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THE 



PRIVATE LIFE 

O.THE ROMANOFFS 



TRANSLATED FROM 



THE GERMAN OF BERNHARD STERN 



BY 



SBXH TTRAIl^L. 



^ T he Romanoffs are reproached with having been tyrants. The 

truth is that these so-called autocrats of all the Russias 

have been 7iearly always slaves— slaves of their 

bejewelled mistresses and favorites. 



WASHINGTON, D. C. ; 
National Pciblishing Company. 

1H9G. 



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Copja-ight, 1896, by Seth Traill. 



'AX(?,A. 



[^ & 



MANNERS, CUSTOMS AND DOMESTIC 
LIFE UNDER THE FIRST ROMANOFFS. 



Russia's Misery. — Rescue by a Prince and a Serf. — Rise 
of the Romanoffs. — Michael Feodorovitsch, the first 
Romanoff Tzar. — The Patriarch Philaret Romanoff, 
the Bane of Russia. — Origin of the Romanoffs. — 
Commencement of the Romanoff Tyranny. — A Her- 
etic Romanoff. — The Tzar Alexis Michaylovitch, the 
" Enli.ffhtened." — The Romanoff System of Favor- 
ites. — Tzarina and Doctor. — Marriage Customs of 
the Tzars. — Alexis Michaylovitch and Natalia Nary- 
schkiua. — Feodor Alexejevitch. — Ivan Alexejevitch, 
the Feeble. — Sophia Alexejevina, the Ambitious, 
and her favorite, Galitzin. — Peter Alexejevitch, the 
Great. — His Creations and Innovations. — Customs 
and Habits of His Epoch. — The Old and the New 
Times, a Masquerade. — A Wedding of Dwarfs. — 
Peter the Great and the Clergy. — The Papal Mar- 
riage. — Election of a New Pope by Besotted Cardi- 
nals. — Domestic Life in Old Russia. — Oriental Se- 
clusion of Women. — Their Emancipation. — Ancient 
Marriage Ceremonies. — Enforced Marriages. — The 
Rod as a Dowry. — Assemblies. — Something About 
Drinking. — A Little Chapter on Immoralities. — A 
Comedy. 

BLACK clouds overhung the Muscovite Em- 
pire after the terrible end of the terrible 
Ivan, after the fall of the false Dmitry. Tumult 
followed tumult. The cities fell into ruins, the 



villages became heaps of rubbish, fields an*d 
forests wasted into wildernesses. In the upper 
classes all was dissension, disloyalty and greed ; 
in the lower, slavish fear and fatalistic inac- 
tivity. Moscow fell into the hands of the 
Poles, who cruelly revelled and raged there. 
They destroyed the Kremlin-City of wood and 
stone, the churches and monasteries, profaned 
the health-bringing relics of the miracle work- 
ers, broke open the tombs of the saints and 
demolished their images. And when the patri- 
arch dared to approach them with words of 
remonstrance, they dragged him off to prison 
and left him to perish miserably. 

It was a mournful spectacle, and the Russian 
people longed for the day of their deliverance, 
longed for the hero who should bring order out 
of chaos and put an end to the strife. 

At last a miracle was wrought. A Prince 
and a Serf, the Knjas Posharsky and the serf 
Kosma Minin, united for the rescue of Russia, 
incited the people to revolt and expelled the 
invaders. Then the two great Council Cham- 
bers assembled, the Bojar Chamber and Pro- 
vincial Chamber, and the representatives of the 
whole Empire, Metropolitans, Archbishops, 
Bishops, Archimandrites and Igumes, Woy- 
wods, Bojars, Okolnitchy, Tschaschniky, Stol- 



niky, Kossacks, Streltzi, Elders, Attainans, 
Gosty and Burghers — in short, " the best 
strongest and most intelligent of the people — " 
on February 21, 1613, chose Michael Fedoro- 
vitch to be their Tzar. 

The Romanoffs were descendants of the 
Kambila,who migrated from Prussia and Lithu- 
ania in 1280, and soon gained a prominent 
position in the Russian Empire. Under Dmi- 
try Donskoi, a Feodor Romanoff was Voyvod, 
and by the marriage of his daughter to the 
Prince of Tver, he became allied to the house 
of Rurik. Anastasia Romanovna, the first 
wife of Ivan the Terrible, was the mother of 
the Tzar Feodor, the last sovereign of the house 
of Rurik. Feodor Xikititsch Romanoff was the 
fiither of Michael, who was born the 12th of 
July 1596. 

On the 19th of April, 1613, the old Kremlin- 
City, after her long sufferings, saw once more 
a happy day. Bright and beneficent was the 
spring-time sun that ushered in the first Ro- 
manoffs, bringing to the Empire the promise 
of peace and prosperity. The streets put on 
their gayest dress, the people shouted for joy. 
A few days before his entrance into the capital 
city the young Tzar had subscribed an act 
binding himself to protect religion, to hold the 



welfare of the people above all personal consid- 
erations, to leave the old laws unchanged and 
to make no new ones, to determine all weighty 
questions, not according to his own judgment, 
but by the laws of the laud, to engage in no 
war and to conclude no peace without the con- 
sent of the Council Chamljers, and for the 
avoidance of dissension, to transfer to other 
hands his private domains, or to make them 
over to the State as the property of the Crown. 

Michael was by nature humane and benevo- 
lent, not devoid of magnanimity or unwilling 
to grant to the country and the people the 
liberty which was their right. He wished, 
rather, to reign as a constitutional sovereign, 
than which nothing better can be desired. 

But, unhappily for Russia and for himself, he 
had a father — a father whose ambition knew 
no bounds. The latter, on becoming patriarch, 
had changed his burgher name of Feodor for 
that of Philaret. He soon succeeded in over- 
shadowing his young son, the real Tzar. The 
patriarchate was as powerful as the throne. On 
nearly every document the name of Philaret 
appeared beside that of Michael. He not only 
took a share in all political matters, but put 
out ukases in his own name, to which as patri- 
arch he had no title, and which even Michael 

10 



would not have dared to do without the consent 
of the Council Chambers. 

Philaret reigned in the Empire as absolutely 
as on his own domains, which he gradually en- 
larged and caused to be respected by the pious 
as church property, although they were in 
truth his own private benefices. 

Thus arose the Romanoff despotism, the 
autocracy of the Tzars. 

And the people, the good, unsuspecting peo- 
ple, knew nothing. The oaths which I\Iichael 
had sworn on ascending the throne were for- 
gotten ; no one reminded him of them. Ere 
yet its loss was discovered the promised free- 
dom was gone. The Romanoff era, so aus- 
piciously begun, grew darker year by year. 
The laws had not brought to the people free- 
dom and action, they had been transformed 
into shapeless knotty scourges, which subverted 
all free life, which stifled thought and feeling. 
Trade and intercourse were restricted ; moral 
and physical distress were hermetically sealed 
up in a frozen silence. 

And when Philaret at last, was no more, 
Michael continued to walk in the path which 
his father had pointed out. The Tzar who had 
ascended the throne with pledges to reign con- 
stitutionally, the liberal Tzar, was become an 

11 



unbending autocrat. The Tzar is all, and all 
is his. Not only the people, not only the coun- 
try. No, all products of the soil, all work of 
the hands, the air, the water and the light, are 
his. 

Does the Tzar want workmen ? He winks. 
And lo ! out of all corners of the Empire, out 
of pathless space, out of the Asiatic wastes, 
from Siberian deserts, from the southern Stej)- 
pes, from the fruit provinces of the West, they 
pour forth, slaves to work for their master, by 
day and night, and night and day, in winter 
and in summer, in the icy frost, under the 
burning sun, they come to work for him, un- 
requited. Unrequited, for the monarch pays 
no hire. Rejoice, wretched mortal that the 
great, the noble Tzar permits you to do and to 
suffer for him. 

You are hungry, thirsty ? You would fain 
rest after your toil ? What is that to him ? 
The poor commune may give you food and 
raiment, a place to sleep. 

Trade is the monopoly of the Tzars. Earn- 
ings, also, are the monopoly of the Tzars. 

No one must deal in any article until the 
Tzar has acquired his stock of the commodity 
on advantageous terms. Goods arriving from 
foreign countries must first be announced and 

.13 



offered to the crown. It has the right of pur- 
chase, it determines the price, or the goods 
that it will give in exchange. Only when it 
has been first satisfied may the " gosty " (mer- 
chants) bo permitted to have what remains, 
which they are obliged to offer to the commer- 
cial houses of the Tzar, and before and above 
all things to care for his interests in preference 
to their own. AVoe unto the man who is 
caught overreaching the throne ! 

Some there are, however, bold enough to 
engage in speculation, who even rise to a cer- 
tain degree of affluence. But the prodigy is 
no sooner accomplished, a demamd for some- 
thing is no sooner created, than an imperial 
ukase is issued establishing a monopoly for that 
article ; the commodity is lowered in price, 
bought up and the value is then raised. All 
striving to rise is thus rendered futile, vain 
and useless all earnings, all acquisitions. The 
success of an industry in any place becomes its 
ruin. Immediately the imperial officials ap- 
pear, and for weeks and months the hapless 
city must give its Avork unremunerated to the 
crown — must work until ruin comes upon it 
and the Tzar is forced to seek another place 
for his commissions. They are wisest, therefore, 
who live in idleness, or who content themselves 

13 



with just so much lahor as will enable them by 
a bare subsistence to win a reprieve from 
destiny. 

Superstition holds the men of Russia en- 
chained. There are no real schools ; there are 
therefore almost no educated persons. Here 
and there are some who so call themselves, iDut 
in Avhat does their education consist ? For the 
most part in an acquaintance with psalms and 
prayers, in a little reading and writing. 

Learning is pernicious ; he who learns falls 
into heresy. 

This statement is exact ; experience has 
abundantly verified it. 

Those are pronounced heretics into whose 
minds the desire of education has entered, those 
who have appropriated to themselves the 
" higher knowledge," who have had accursed 
thoughts, who have reflected on the strange 
condition of the country and asked themselves 
whether here all is as it should be. 

There were some whom a strange freak of 
destiny at times permitted to glance beyond 
the boundary walls of Moscow, to learn some- 
thing of foreign life, foreign customs and for- 
eign freedom, and to compare the here and 
the there. Even the palace of the Tzar itself 



14 



once sheltered such a freethinker, such a 
heretic. 

This was Bojar Nikita Ivavowitch, the uncle 
of Tzar Michael. 

He went (what audacity!) to a hunt in Polish 
costume. The patriarch burned with his own 
hand the heathen garb and required Nikita to 
purify himself with holy water. It might have 
been due to the mildness of this punishment 
that the heretic permitted himself practices 
more shameful still, for he had in his house 
(shocking to relate) a musical orchestra. All 
the threats of the Tzar and the curses of the 
priests availed nothing with this incorrigible 
freethinker. He procured a boat to be built 
for himself by heathen Dutchmen, and it was 
this boat which afterwards, found by Peter the 
Great, suggested to him the building of a Rus- 
sian navy. 

Tzar Michael died in 1645. His son, Alexis, 
then sixteen years old, succeeded him. Alexis 
Michaylovitsch is reported to have been an en- 
lightened man. Let us look at his epoch, his 
reforms and the outcome of them. In the first 
years of his reign the warmest panegyrists of 
Alexis confess him to have been a canter and 
an idler, taking no interest in affairs of state. 



15 



and leaving them iu the hands of his favorite, 
Borofs Morosoff. 

Morosoff was cunning and hard. The for- 
mer tutor of tlie Tzar, he possessed liis entire 
confidence, as to-day Pobedonofszef possesses 
tliat of Alexander the Third. Alexis went so 
far as to ally himself by marriage with his 
favorite. On the IGtli of January, 1G48, they 
married two sisters, the daughters of Elias 
Danilovitsch Miloslavsky. The favorite's arro- 
gance now knew no bounds; he surrounded the 
throne with his relatives ; he bled the people 
more than ever ; they groaned, but their 
groans did not reach the ear of the Tzar. 
Heaven is high and the Tzar is far off — this 
was as true in the Russia of hundreds of years 
ago as it is in the Russia of to-day. 

But the patience of the slaves was in the end 
exhausted. On the 2(3th of May, 1648, a 
bloodthirsty cry of revolution resounded 
through the streets of Moscow, and brutalized 
men and women rushed upon the palace of 
the imperial officials who were growing fat on 
the blood of the people. Moscow was surren- 
dered to them to work their will, but the up- 
roar did not cease. During long years it con- 
tinued to rage in all (juarters of the Empire. 
Wretchedness could not find means enough to 

16 



satisfy itself with expiation. Alexis established 
a "council of secret officers" as a protection 
against the revolution. Siberia came into 
fashion as a place of banishment for political 
suspects, or criminals, and not without its 
effect. 

It was now that Alexis discovered the mis- 
sion which it was his to fulfil and set himself 
in good earnest to acquit himself of it. Of 
what is understood as reform he entertained no 
thought. He had no purpose to bring in any- 
thing new, but only to purify the old. In 
much he succeeded. Where he chiefly failed 
was in the eradication of bribery and drunken- 
ness. Important acts of his which deserve re- 
cognition were the purification of the chambers 
of justice; an exact regulation of penalties, and 
the abolition of the death penalty for civil 
offenses. 

To curb the arbitrariness of the officials, he 
ordained that every subject should be permitted 
free access to his person, and according to a 
pretty legend there was placed in front of his 
pleasure house at Kolomenskoje a tin box, a 
''mercy box," where every morning as he step- 
ped to his window on rising, a crowd of peti- 
tioners was already gathered who under the 



17 



eyes of their prince threw into it their griev- 
ances and requests. 

Taxes were lightened, some of the privileges 
which discriminated in favor of the nobles 
against the poor were removed, commerce and 
intercourse were encouraged. The church texts 
were examined and amended. 

The every-day history of Europe appeared 
to him of sufficient importance to induce him 
to have German newspapers now and then 
translated and distributed among the persons 
attached to his court. The Russians were, 
however, far from being curious to know 
promptly what was happening l^eyond their 
borders. It came to pass, therefore, that events 
which were already a year old were served up 
at the court of Moscow as burning news. The 
credentials of a Russian Ambassador to Spain 
in the3^ear 1G67, were addressed to King Philip 
ly, who had died two years before. 

These acts won for Alexis the surname of 
"The Enlightened." But in the land of the 
enlightened Alexis, the treatment of woman was 
worse than in the whole remaining Orient. 
She was so completely secluded from all inter- 
course with the other sex that " The Enlight- 
ened " permitted a physician to visit the 
Tzarina only in a darkened chamber, and re- 

18 



quired him to feel her pulse through a silken 
stuff, the hand of a strange man not being suf- 
fered to touch hers. It was only in the closing 
years of his reign that relations were established 
which might be called easier. 

The first wife of Alexis, the Tzarina Maria 
Iljinitschna, died, and in 1669 he brought a 
young wife into his palace at Moscow. 

In former days, during the time of the prin- 
palities, the rulers chose their wives out of 
reigning Russian or foreign houses, especially 
those of Greece or Poland, once out of Polowzen 
Chanat. The Grand Dukes of INIoscow followed 
the same practice until Wassily Ivanovitcli first 
departed from it by taking a bride from among 
his subjects. His successors followed his ex- 
ample, as did also the first Romanoffs. When 
Alexis therefore decided to take another wife 
the Empire was ransacked, and seventy young 
girls of the greatest beauty were brought, from 
the abodes of the poor as well as from those of 
the rich, to the capital. The lord steward of 
the Tzar received the damsels and assigned to 
each her separate chamber in the imperial 
palace, where she waS to reside until the 
period allotted for the choosing should expire. 

All of the bride candidates ate at the same 
table, which permitted ample apportunity to 

19 



make observations. Many a time Alexis 
attended them at the table disguised as a sleek 
waiter in order to study their deportment. But 
his presence did not remain a secret from the 
girls, nor did they ever forget to be well dressed 
and agreeable. 

It was another thing when the Tzar under- 
took to make his observations by i^eering 
through the cracks and holes of their cham- 
bers. There his chances were better to study 
the behavior and mode of life of the damsels, 
each of whom was cherishing the hope of be- 
coming the Tzarina of the Muscovite Empire. 

As was natural, on all sides attempts were 
made to determine the Tzar in favor of this one 
or that. Meanwhile he had listened to the 
promptings of his own heart, and had chosen. 

One day he summoned his principal steward 
and gave him this order : 

" Let beautiful clothing be provided for six- 
ty-nine of the young girls, and a bridal dress 
for the seventieth, whose name you shall know 
on the day of the choosing. Out of the mar- 
vellous wreath I have chosen a most precious 
flower. Nineteen times I have wandered 
through their apartments ; for days and weeks 
I have observed the demeanor of each, and 



20 



none of them surpasses her who is now the 
choice of my heart." 

When on the morning of February 17, 
1669, the domes of the Kremhn grew golden, 
the Lord Steward appeared with tlie bridal 
dress and asked to whom it was to be de- 
livered. Alexis answered : 

" Go to Natalia, the daughter of Kirill Nary- 
schkin, and salute her as your Tzarina." 

A few hours later the chosen one was 
solemnly united to Alexis. The remaining 
sixty-nine departed carrying rich presents to 
their houses or huts. 

Natalia Ivirillowna Naryschkina, who had 
suddenly become the Tzarina, was the daugh- 
ter of a simple officer of dragoons and of a for- 
eign woman named Hamilton. 

In a former reign a Hamilton had come from 
Scotland to Russia, and his descendants had 
lived as servants of the crown in the German 
Sloboda, at Moscow. The Colonel of the regi- 
ment in which Kirill Naryschkin had served, 
whose name was Matwejef, had married a 
Hamilton, whose niece in her turn married a 
Naryschkin. Both he and Matwejef .were of 
humble origin. To the Russians it was a sim- 
ple matter of course that the Tzar should wed 
alow-born peasant girl, for "the Tzar needs 

21 



neither riches nor a great family connection, 
but only a beautiful and virtuous spouse " But 
the marriage of the lowest Russian with the 
most exalted foreigner, a consort of the heath- 
en-Roman, or the Lutheran faith, was in their 
eyes an abomination, and it mended matters 
but little for the bride to relinquish her faith 
for that of the orthodox church. 

Matwejef and Naryschkin were view^ed wdth 
scant favor by their fellows on account of these 
marriages, but they did not on that account 
repent of them ; in fact Matwejef arrived at 
such a degree of prosperity that he was able to 
receive the daughter of Kirill into his house, 
where she w^as afforded the opportunity for a 
better rearing than w'as common in her time, 
for the house of Matwejef was unlike the 
houses of other Russians. The days of greater 
enlightenment which were about to dawn were 
casting there their first beams. European 
custoins and manners prevailed, foreigners re- 
sorted there, the ambassadors from the various 
countries of Europe, and the so-called "en- 
lightened minds " of the age. The women 
took part in the assemblages of the men, ming- 
ling with them in free, almost unrestrained in- 
tercourse. Thus Natalia Kirillovna had before 
her examples of manners and customs of which 

22 



other Russian girls were in ignorance, and with 
the more graceful deportment thus acquired 
she easily ensnared the Tzar. And so it came 
about that the daughter of an apostate and of a 
foreign and heathen woman became Empress 
of Russia, and the mother of Peter the Great. 

Her position was no easy one, but she really 
possessed the heart of the Tzar ; so true and 
steadfast a spouse was he that she presumed to 
undertake the opening of a little, a very little 
street. After the death of Alexis, which took 
place in a few years, the entire charge of the 
education of young Peter fell to her ; it was she 
who awakened in him a love of foreign cus- 
toms, manners and culture ; it was therefore 
she to whom Russia owed the extensive inno- 
vations which well-nigh transformed the Asi- 
atic Empire into a semi-European country. 

Alexis was succeeded in 1676 by his feeble 
son Feodor, at the age of fifteen. His early 
death in 1682 seemed to threaten Russia with 
a renewal of troublesome times. Feodor left 
no children, only an own and a half brother. 
The former, Ivan, the son of the first wife of 
Alexis, Maria Iljinitschna Miloslavska, was of 
full age but sickly and weak-minded ; the other, 
Peter, was just ten years old. The energetic 
Natalia, his mother, succeeded in getting him 

23 



called to share the throne with his Ijrother Ivan, 
the rightful sovereign ; she was not, however, 
able to prevent her step-daughter, Sophia, from 
being made regent instead of herself. With 
her favorite Galitzin, Sophia continued to hold 
the regency for seven years. But at length her 
rule came to an end. 

Peter had lived in retirement. His great 
mind awoke and burst the fetters with which 
Sophia still sought to bind it. He quitted the 
town of Preobrashenskoje where he had been 
confined by his half sister, and suddenly ap- 
peared on the stage of the world. Young 
though he was, he showed that he possessed an 
indomitable will and great determination of 
character. Sophia was frightened, and em- 
ployed members of the Strelitz l^odyguard to 
murder him. But the young Tzar received 
warning of her intention, made his escape, and 
placing himself at the head of a body of soldiers 
of his own age who had hitherto been his play- 
things, he disposessed his ambitious sister and 
her favorite and seized the tlirone in his own 
name, deposing the feeble Ivan. 

Scarcely had Peter grasped the reins of gov- 
ernment than he set about the task of trans- 
forming the Empire, — of changing Asia into 
Europe, barbarism into civilization. Nothing 

24 



should be permitted to remain which could re- 
call men and days gone by, nor was anything 
too small or too insignificant to be new 
modelled after the European pattern, were the 
change for better or worse. And he wrought 
marvels. He made war, he founded a Russian 
navy, encouraged trade and commerce ; he at 
least endeavored to check corruption and to 
foster education and learning. Yet remaining 
himself, in spite of all, rude and unpolished, 
he was ignorant of the correct methods to be 
employed to accomplish his designs. Educa- 
tion and civilization were placed under the 
protection of the knout ; instead, therefore, of 
being heartily welcomed, they were tolerated, 
feared, and so far as possible, shunned. It 
was therefore a refoi*m which extended no far- 
ther than the surface, — mere charlatanry. The 
country gained in power and consideration. It 
gained a culture and a civilization to which 
honest barbarism is far preferable. To the 
opinion that di*oss does not make the man, 
Peter opposed the conviction that a barbarian 
needs only to consent to change his garb to 
that of a European to become at once civilized; 
therefore the importance which he attached to 
the abolition of the old national dress in favor 
of the collar. 

2b 



One day an Imperial mandate directed tliat 
all who drew pay from the Empire, and all 
possessing access to the court should appear in 
foreign dress. A pattern of such a costume 
was ordered to be displayed in front of every 
door in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and all large 
towns, and any one, not being a prince or a 
peasant, a Cossack, a Calmuck, or a Tartar — 
for these were as yet exempt — who passed 
through any gate clad in a long robe after the 
former fashion should pay a fine of two griefs, 
or twenty kopecks, or must kneel down and 
continue kneeling until so much of his robe as 
touched the ground was cut away. 

The wearing of a long beard was incompati- 
ble with the new costume. As with Orientals 
the beard has been looked upon as a token of 
piety, so the Russians looked upon it as an at- 
tribute of the Christian faith, and to cut it off 
was to deface the image of God. How precious 
Hhe beard was to the Russian appears from an 
ordinance of the Jaroslof code imposing a pen- 
alty fourteen times as great for a plucked out 
beard as for a cut off finger. That, however, 
gave Peter little concern ; foreigners had 
smooth chins, therefore must Russians have 
them. The order was issued for the cutting off 
of beards, but permitting priests, x)easants, 

26 



and those who paid a tax of a hundred rubles 
to retain their beards. Even a peasant enter- 
ing the city with his beard must pay a kopeck 
at the gate. 

This measure soon brought the new costume 
into vogue in the capital, but to diffuse it 
throughout the distant quarters of the Empire 
was a less easy task. It happened often that 
over-zealous officials sought* with Draconian 
severity to enforce obedience to the Tzar's com- 
mand. In Woronesch, the city magistrates re- 
fused positively to conform to the order. At 
Easter the Tzar was to visit Woronesch, and 
Mentschikoff was anxious to prepare for his 
master a delightfiil surprise by procuring him 
a reception on the part of the magistrates with 
shaven chins. He ordered for them complete 
outfits of German apparel, and on Easter eve 
he sent for the magistrates and thus addressed 
them : 

" I have received stringent orders from the 
Tzar to require you to wear these garments and 
to remove your beards. AVill you obey ? No ? 
Then make yourselves ready for a journey to 
Siberia. The kibitks are in readiness to con- 
vey you thither." 

The magistrates wept, implored, fell on their 
knees, protested that they would sooner lose 

27 



their heads tha.n their beards. Mentschikoff 
winked. Soldiers seized the men and were 
dragging them to their kibitks. The youngest 
of the number, who was but recently wedded, 
and who found the parting with his young wife 
even more grievous than the parting with his 
beard, exclaimed : 

" I remain. Let the will of Heaven be 
done." 

Mentschikoff winked again and a barber ap- 
peared and cut off the handsome beard of the 
young apostate. 

This examjjle will answer for many others. 
The shaving continued for a long time unpop- 
ular, and many pious Russians caused the 
beards of which they had been forcibly dispos- 
sessed to be restored to them in the grave. 

The Raskolniky, or Old-Believers, persisted 
in refusing obedience to the new law. Peter 
did not care to combat too vigorously this pow- 
erful sect, he, therefore, permitted them to re- 
tain their beards in consideration of the pay- 
ment of a stated fine or beard-tax. By way of 
a receipt and a certificate of their beard privi- 
lege they were given every year after the pay- 
ment of the fine a coin called Borodowaja, or 
beard coin. On one side was a nose with a 



28 



mustache and beard, on the other the inscrip- 
tion " paid tax " and the date. 

To bring clearly before the eyes of his sub- 
jects the difference between the past and the 
present Peter ordered to be held on the occa- 
sion of the marriage of a court fool a ball ac- 
cording to the fashion of centuries gone by. 
The costumes to be worn should all be those of 
a hundred years ago. The Bojars came riding 
on strangely caparisoned horses, rudely attired 
and wearing prodigiously tall hats. Instead of 
a bridle, some of them held silver chains with 
links a finger and a half thick; the breasts and 
manes of their horses were bedecked with silver 
plates, making a jingling noise as they rode. 
The women, heavily veiled, arrived in uncom- 
fortable two-wheeled Tatar carriages that tum- 
bled and fell over every stone, while from the 
inside proceeded incessant screams and lamen- 
tations. Their dress was modelled after a long 
extinct fashion. Heavily ruffled sleeves fell 
down over their hands, and the heels of their 
shoes, ten inches high, had the appearance of 
stilts upon which the beauties swayed to and 
fro, with much difficulty preserving their cen- 
ter of gravity. 

The festivities took place, like all those of the 
period, in the state palace of the Mentchikoffs. 

29 



Upon a throne with three steps, the pretended 
Tzar and Patriarch received the homage of the 
throng. Each guest was, on entering, saluted 
by his own and his father's name, and ap- 
proaching reventially the Tzar and the Patri- 
arch, kissed their hand and received as a gift of 
welcome a cup of brandy. 

The feast was spread on a simple wooden 
table. The dishes, prepared in the manner of 
a time long past, disgusted palates grown ac- 
customed to new receipts for cooking. Worse 
still was the brew concocted of meat and brandy 
which had been the favorite beverage of the 
olden time. Up to this time the guests had 
endured all without losing their equanimity; 
this was unendurable. 

The repast over, the dancing began, and 
what a dance ! In place of the graceful French 
and German dances to which the guests were 
accustomed, they saw jumping and stamping 
which filled them with amazement, and in 
which they could, with difficulty, execute their 
parts. And the music, the fearful music of the 
balayka, the gudoks and the bagpipe ! 

Lastly appeared the newly wedded pair. 
All were shivering with cold, there being, 
accordins; to the old custom, no fire. A 



30 



small bed made of rough boards beckoned to 
the bridal pair. 

How they cursed the good old times ! 

Peter liad a particular fancy for dwarfs. The 
court fool gave way to the dwarf, and he lost 
no opportunity to amuse himself with the little 
creatures. 

On the occasion of the marriage of Prince 
Frederick William of Courland to the Russian 
Princess Anna, which took place the winter of 
1710, he celebrated the nuptials of a pair of 
dwarfs with all the pomp that could have been 
observed at the marriage of a reigning prince. 
At this wedding the officials and attendants 
must be all of the same diminutive statures as 
the bridal ppir. The whole empire was ran- 
sacked to procure seventy-two of the smallest 
specimens of humanity which it contained. 

On the day before the wedding the two 
smallest of these little men were sent from 
house to house in a three-wheel miniature 
coach to invite the guests to the marriage; two 
other dwarfs rode on before on dwarf horses. 

On the day of the ceremony Peter himself, 
according the custom of the Greek Church, 
held the wreath over the head of the bride. 

The wedding festival took place in the 
Mentschikoff palace, in the same hall where 

31 



two days previous the Tzar had received the 
guests who attended the wedding of the 
Princess Anna. 

The dwarfs sat at a low table; the bridal 
party occupying two tables, were seated under 
silken canopies. The marshal and eight assist- 
ant marshals (also dwarfs) ran busily hither and 
thither. The Tzar and the gentlemen and 
ladies of the court sat as spectators on a bench 
along the wall. When the table was cleared 
they danced the Russian national dance, which 
the appearance of the dancers rendered very 
amusing. Some had tall backs and very short 
legs, some a huge belly, some wobbled on feet 
like an 0, others on feet like an X; of some of 
them scarcely anything was to be seen but an 
enormously large head. Some had slanting 
mouths, some huge ears, and others, lastly, had 
tiny eyes and very thick lips. The gayeties 
were prolonged until near midnight, when the 
young pair were brought to the palace and as- 
signed a residence. 

The funeral of a dwarf was celebrated with 
the utmost pomp. Four priests in ecclesiastical 
garb, two of the Empress's marshals, and a 
choir of thirty singers walked in front of the 
corpse. A sleigh drawn by six small horses 
conveyed the coffin covered with black velvet. 



and in it also rode the surviving brother of the 
dwarf, a dwarf fifty years old. Immediately 
behind came the other mourners — twelve pairs 
of dwarfs dressed in black, wearing long cloaks 
and crape, were followed by twelve pairs of 
female dwarfs ranged in order according to 
their sizes, while the Tzar, his ministers, gen- 
erals and ofHcials, closed the cortege. 

These innovations brought the Tzar, for the 
most part, but little sympathy. He soon came 
to be regarded as an apostate, and there were 
not wanting those who applied to him the 
epithet of Satan, especially by reason of his in- 
fringement upon the rights of the clergy, and 
his presuming to abolish the dignity of patri- 
arch and in its i^lace to create a body depend- 
ent upon the Tzar, the Holy Synod. 

He ended at last by leaving nothing to the 
priests. One Sunday the Tzar appeared as the 
Summus Pontifex, and in a loud voice con- 
ducted the prayers and the preaching. A con- 
temporary * observes of him : " He is a God- 
fearing and warlike Joshua, who not only lifts 
up his hands in prayer but employs them for 
the government and defence of his people — 

*Des grossen Herrn Czaars and Grossfursten von 
Moskau Petri Alexowicz Leben und Thaten. Franck- 
furt, 1710. 

33 



with what reverence, by his diligent attendance 
at church does he not call upon God for the 
welfare of his country, and would have His 
holy word reverenced in all hearts to bring 
blessings to his subjects." 

To the ecclesiastics tins was naturally an 
abomination, and a great crying and lamenta- 
tion went up over the "Satan Tzar." Peter 
therefore, seeking for a means of ruining the 
clergy determined to make them ridiculous. 
He made a pope of his former tutor, Sotof, now 
an old man of eighty -four, feeble in mind, and 
married him to a pretty young widow. A great 
feast was prepared in honor of the singular 
nuptials, in which fourteen hundred persons, 
men and women, Bojars and peasants, with their 
families, took part. The four persons who, ac- 
cording to Russian usage, deliver the invitations 
a few days before the wedding, were the great- 
est stutterers that could be found in the Rus- 
sian Empire. For marshals, best men, and 
masters of ceremony, decrepit old men were 
chosen, for runners thick-bodied gouty persons. 
A Bojar represented the Emperor on the occa- 
sion, dressed to represent King David, but in- 
stead of a harp he held a lyre which was en- 
wrapped with the skin of a lion and which he 
turned around and around. 

84 



i 



The procession passed through all the streets 
of St. Petersburg. The sham Tzar was seated in 
a large sleigh on a high scaftblding with enor- 
mous bears at either end, which from time to 
time were made to growl horribly by being 
stuck with sharp instruments. Peter himself 
wore the guise of a Friesland peasant, and he, 
with three others similarly disguised, beat upon 
drums. The remainder of the guests were 
ranged in fours with different costumes and 
instruments. Amid the ringing of all the bells 
in the capital the procession arrived at the 
cathedral. The ill-assorted pair proceeded to the 
altar and were united in marriage by a priest 
a hundred years old. Two lights were held up 
before his bespectacled nose, while some one 
shouted into his ear what he should say. From 
the church they proceeded to the palace of the 
Tzar, where the sport degenerated into a Bac- 
chic carousal. 

One day the sham Pope died. They pro- 
ceded to the election of his successor with sol- 
emn ceremonial. The election was arranged 
to take place in the house of the deceased Pope, ' 
in which were placed two huge wooden bells 
and sixty-four stone ones, all of which 
were rung at once and gave forth a terri- 
ble din. In the electoral chamber, the walls 

35 



of which were hung with straw matting, a 
throne was set up six steps high, covered with 
red hnen, and in the centre of it was a barrel 
of beer painted red and blue, and upon this sat 
a living Bacchus, namely, a man who for eight 
days had not been permitted to become sober. 
At the right of the throne was a seat for the 
sham Tzar, and on the left, one for the Pope 
who w^as to be elected. Along the wall stood 
thirteen perforated chairs for the cardinals. 
The adjoining room, the •' conclave chamber," 
was separated into fourteen boxes by straw 
matting. In each box instead of a light hung 
a wooden shoe, and in the middle were a bear 
and ass made of clay, with barrels of brandy 
near by. 

All the cathedral bells rang out as the strange 
procession began its march. At its head stalked 
a marshal in his usual dress and carrying a red 
staff. Next to him came twelve pipers repre- 
senting the Pope's pages, who carried spoons 
with little bells, and these were followed by the 
chief functionaries and officers, iMinisters, Gen- 
erals, Ambassadors, priests, real and false, the 
Emperor, a dwarf as secretary of the pope, and 
six stutterers as the Pope's heralds. Upon a 
barrel of brandy borne by sixteen drunken 
peasants, collected from the tap-houses, sat a 

36 



drunken fellow as Bacchus. Before this reeling 
barrel staggered a feeble old man brandishing 
to and fro a burning pine branch, which rep- 
resented incense. Another barrel of brandy 
and another Bacchus were borne by twelve 
bald-heads, who carried hog-bladders in their 
hands. The cardinals brought up the train 
pressing to their hearts books which looked like 
prayer-books, but wdiich contained only songs 
in praise ot Bacchus » 

When the procession reached the fore-court 
of the electoral house it was greeted with cheers 
of welcome and the beating upon empty bar- 
rels by wooden hammers. While the remainder 
of the company assembled in the different 
rooms, drinking and merry-making, the card- 
inals w^ere shut up in the conclave chamber 
where they were to remain all night. In ad- 
dition to their usual drinking they were re- 
quired to swallow every quarter of an hour an 
enormous spoonful of brandy. In the morning 
the besotted conclave was liberated to announce 
its choice, upon which however it was no easy 
matter to agree. There was no one of them but 
would gladly have been invested with the 
mock dignity, for it carried with it an annual 
stipend of a thousand rubles. In addition to 
this the pretended Pope was presented with a 

37 



residence m St. Petersburg and in Moscov^^, and 
was at libert}^ to draw upon the Imperial cel- 
lars for all the wine, brandy and beer he might 
desire, or which his household could use. 
Lastly, every one, high or low, was required to 
observe toward him the same respect as if he 
had been the real Summus pontifex, under pen- 
alty of a heavy fine. 

It will readily be seen, therefore, that the 
cardinals could not promptly agree. A word 
from the Tzar was needed to decide them, and 
the choice fell upon the commissary Strogost. 
He was placed upon the throne. All approached 
him and kissed his slipper, while he, puffed up 
with pride in his chimerical pontificial dignity, 
offered each a spoonful of brandy. He was 
then placed brexist high in a barrel of brandy 
out of which he offered to all a drink. Lastly 
the feast was served. The real Abbess Galitzyn 
and three nuns served the viands Vvdiich con- 
sisted of skilfully prepared cats, mice, foxes, 
bears, wolves, and other similar animals. They 
drank bravely withal until a late hour of the 
night. Then they separated, promising that 
on the next occasion they would crown the 
Pope. 

The next occasion which brought them all 



again together was the funeral obsequies of 
the Tzar. 

In the matter of innovations tlie women 
were in better accord and yielded the Tzar a 
more willing obedience than the men, for wo- 
men love changes of fashion. Furthermore 
they received, together with the foreign dress, 
certain other advantages. 

Up to this time they had been kept in strict 
confinement, seldom venturing elsewhere than 
to the baths, the churches and cloisters, and to 
the houses of their relatives, and this only 
when closely veiled or in well closed carriages 
or sleighs. Even in the weddings in their own 
houses they did not show themselves in the 
presence of strangers. On special occasions 
only, where the master of the house desired to 
show marked honor to his guest, he called to 
the table his wife and daughter, who kissed the 
stranger, and after presenting him a little cup 
of gin immediately made the jioJdon, or adieu, 
and departed. 

Those whose rigorous lords possessed suffi- 
cient means, kept dwarfs who entertained their 
mistresses with jokes, told them tales, and 
whose office it was besides to stimulate their 
senses by gently rubbing their heads or tickling 
their feet. The poor women, given over to 

39 



drunkenness and idleness, could be seen lying 
for weeks on the ovens, eating, drinking ^and 
sleeping. Suddenly all this was changed. 
Scarcely had Peter ascended the throne than 
he dashed in pieces the oppressive fetters with 
which the women had been burdened. He 
issued orders that the dress of the women of 
Russia should conform to the fashion of that 
worn by foreign women, and introduced for 
them gowns of German, Prench, English and 
Dutch patterns. The question of fashion in 
dress then held an important place in the his- 
tory of the world. The women who dressed 
according to the new fashions were free, those 
who wore the old costumes were immured. 
That they needed not to be long entreated to 
adopt the former garb need not be said— and 
above all, since in the new costume they gained 
admission to the entertainments of the court. 
New paths opened up to those who had until 
now been slaves and they obeyed for the most 
part with joy the Tzar's behests. The men 
were not all so well pleased, and many a wo- 
man dreading the wrath of her orthodox spouse, 
dared not follow her desires, and attended the 
ball by the Tzar's order accompanied by the 
l^olice. 

Another innovation of the Tzar's which has 



40 



a historical interest was tlie abolition of en- 
forced marriages. The destiny of children was 
entirely in the hands of their parents. When a 
daughter was grown up, her parents proposed to 
some unmarried man to offer her to his parents, 
j)raising the charms of the fair one with all the 
energy of the vender of a quack article. If an 
understanding was arrived at between the 
parents, the wedding took place without delay, 
and before the bridal pair had seen each other. 
The bridegroom with his friends and the priest 
walked in procession to the home of the bride, 
who in the presence of her companions received 
him with a kiss and offered him a cup of gin 
in token of her consent. Then she covered 
herself with her A^eil and continued veiled until 
the ceremony was ended. 

After the exchange of a ring by the parents 
of the bridal pair, the bridegroom proceeded to 
the church followed by the bride in a covered 
carriage or sleigh drawn by a horse completely 
covered with fox tails. After the ceremony the 
priest presented the newly wedded pair with a 
large glass of gin, which, after they had drunk 
to his health, he threw on the ground and the 
bride stamped on it, saying: 'SSo may be 
dashed in j^ieces whatever may presume to 



41 



create discord and enmity between man and 
wife." 

Then the bride's fatlier stepped up to her, and 
holding up a pine rod struck lier witli it say- 
ing : " This, my dear daughter, is tlie last blow 
you will receive from my hand. I release you 
from the parental authority and deliver you 
into the hands of your husband. If you should 
fail to show him the obedience which is his 
due, with this rod he will remind you of your 
fault." 

With these words the father delivered to his 
daughter the little pine branch which, to the 
orthodox Russian, was an object of as great re- 
spect as the wedding ring. 

After these pretty preliminaries the bride was 
led to the bridegroom's house. 

How could a union so contracted prosper ? 
Not only no affection could spring up between 
the husband and wife, but the subjection of the 
wife was so complete that she could not but hate 
her tj'rant. For his ill treatment she revenged 
herself when she could with unfaithfulness, 
while he in his turn avenged his wrongs with 
cruel punishments, even with death. 

Peter wished to alleviate the wretchedness of 
the women, and he regarded as the first step to 
that end the abolition of enforced marriages. 

42 



He ordained that no marriage should take 
place without the free will and consent of the 
parties, who should be permitted to see each 
other for the space of at least six weeks previous 
to the wedding. 

The Russian women of that day, according 
to the unanimous testimony of contemporary 
travellers, were very pretty. According to their 
own standard no one was pretty who had not a 
very red complexion. When the Russians 
wished to describe a beautiful women, they said 
her face is very red. And if nature had not 
favored them with this ornament they did not 
fail to procure it by means of art, thus they 
painted themselves insufferably. The peasant 
girl on the roadside, the beggar girl in the city, 
did not ask for bread but for a couple of kopecks 
to buy paint. Stoutness of form was also an 
enviable gift ; black teeth were much in vogue, 
and beauty plasters in all sorts of figures — flow- 
ers, trees, carriages, horses or other animals. 

The girls generally wore their hair in two 
braids down their backs fastened at the ends 
with large gay tassels. The married women 
wore their's concealed under a cap.* 

* The peasant womeu were less eager thau those of the 
city to conform to the new fashions. They remained at 
home and adhered for the most part to the old order and 

43 



Women of the higher ranks dressed accord- 
ing to Peter's order, in foreign fashions. Yet 
it hapi^ened that many were at a loss how to 
accommodate themselves to the strange cos- 
tumes, and a distinguished Russian dame might 
be met splendidly attired in the French or 
German fashion, in silk and satin, bedecked 
with laces and ribbons, barefooted, and carry- 
ing her slippers in her hands, being ignorant 
for what purpose they were intended. 

In order to promote sociability among the 
officials of his court and the residents of the 
capital and to bring about easy intercourse 
between men and women, Peter instituted en- 
tertainments to which he gave the name of 
Assemblies, and the busy Tzar found time to 
compose and draw up himself the rules for the 
conduct of these Assemblies : 



disorder, continued to go barefooted and to Avear roue;]! 
shoes like the men.. In the summer they wore only a 
long thin blue linen sleeveless smock fastened with a 
girdle and which they seldom removed ; in Avinter 
over the smock they wore a sheepskin. On their neck 
they wore a string of glass pearls, and earrings with 
three pendants one below the other. Lastly, on their 
breast they wore a leaden cross, which was never re- 
moved except Avhen about to engage in some excess. 
These little crosses were Avorn by the men also. They 
were so sacred and so indispensable to a Russian that 
few were buried without them. 

44 



ORDINANCE FOR THE HOLDING OF ASSEMBLIES 
IN ST. PETERSBURG. 

1. Assembly is a French Avord which it is not 
easy to express in Russian. It means a number 
of men who, for amusement or to converse on 
more serious matters, have met together. 
Friends upon meeting each other may converse 
together, can learn news of each other, and in- 
form themselves of the events which are hap- 
pening in the world. 

2. The order to hold assemblies applies to 
every prominent person of the Court about 
once every winter, and the Chief of Police will 
give notice to him at wdiose house it shall be 
the pleasure of the Tzar that an assembly shall 
take place. 

3. The person at whose house the assembly is 
taking place has been required to place a notice 
thereof in front of his house and to give infor- 
mation of it to all, both men and women. 

4. The assembly shall not begin before four or 
five o'clock of the afternoon or continue later 
than ten of the evening. 

5. The host is not rec^uired to receive or to at- 
tend upon the guests, or to constrain them to 
eat and drink. He is, however, required to 
furnish chairs, lights, drinks and diver- 
sions. 

45 



6. No person is required to come or to go at 
a certain hour; it is enough that he has let him- 
self be seen at the assembly. 

7. Every one shall be free at an assembly to 
sit, to walk, or to play, and no one shall be per- 
mitted under pain of the great eagle, that is to 
say, of the emptying of the great goblet, to re- 
proach him therewith. 

8. Persons coming to an assembly are re- 
cj^uired to salute only upon entering and depart- 
ing. 

9. No one shall be presented with more wine 
or brandy to drink than he wishes. 

10. Whoever violates the laws of the assem- 
blies or offends against good behavior shall be 
punished with a heavy portion to drink. 

11. Persons of rank, such as nobles, and offi- 
cers of high grade, also well-known merchants 
and shipbuilders, households of Chancellors, to- 
gether with the wives and children of the same, 
may attend the assemblies without further 
notice. 

12. Lackeys, excepting those belonging to the 
host's household, shall have a space assigned 
to them, in order that there shall be plenty of 
room. 

That the assemblies were merry enough, is 

46 



clear. The drinking was terrible. Drunken- 
ness was so common in the Russia of Peter's 
time that it was scarcely held to be a vice. 
Some travellers assure us that the Russians of 
that day were very much inclined to regard it 
as a part of religion, and thought that they 
had not fittingly celebrated a feast day if they 
had not been intoxicated the night before. 

A strange custom was that which prevailed 
in even the most refined circles of forcibly com- 
pelling the guests to drink by closing the door 
and stationing sentinels before it to prevent 
any one from leaving without his allotted 
cargo. 

Peter, on one occasion, gave an entertainment 
in honor or a German ambassador at his palace 
of Peterhof At dinner the guests were plied 
with Tokay until none of them could stand on 
their feet, nevertheless each of them must ac- 
cept from the soft hand of the Tzarina a quart 
of brandy, which completely finished him. 
The Tzar alone had the prudence to abstain, 
and could, therefore, find his amusement in the 
befuddled condition of his guests. He caused 
them to be carried off, some into the garden, 
some into the woods, and others into different 
apartments. At four o'clock they were carried 
into a forest where the Tzar set them to w^ork 

47 



to fell a row of trees, himself setting the exam- 
ple. After a few hour's work they had sweated 
away the fumes of wine. At supper they re- 
ceived as their 'reward another heavy cargo 
and went to bed senseless. At eight o'clock in 
the morning they were invited to coffee which 
consisted of a large cup of brandy. After this 
they were set upon rough cart horses to ride up 
a steep hill and around and about a forest. At 
dinner they were treated to a fourth bout and 
immediately after took ship with the Tzar to 
Kronschlott in a heavy storm, where they ran 
the risk of their lives. 

There were also theatrical performances as 
well as Assemblies. The sister of Peter, the 
Princess Natalia, wrote the plays in Russian, 
gathering her material partly from the Bible, 
partly from secular chronicles. Actors (and 
musicians) were Russian. The wag, an officer, 
intermixed the play with jests of his own which 
had no manner of connection therewith. Lastly, 
an orator appeared and delivered a lecture of 
admonitions to the audience. 

The abrupt transitions which Peter had ef- 
fected were not slow in showing the evil of their 
workings, and the sudden and unwonted free- 
dom of intercourse between men and women, 
which should have served to moderate the 

48 



rudeness and drunkenness of the men, was the 
occasion of an immorality which knew no 
bounds. 

The women did not know how to understand 
their freedom. They looked upon immodesty 
and indecent behavior as the expressions of it. 
The more shameless they could be, the greater 
the advance they had made in the direction of 
freedom and emancipation. A contemporary 
traveller groans over the immorality of the 
Russian women, and says : " The women are 
shameless and wanton. It is nothing strange 
in Russia to see the women strip themselves 
publicly for the bath and come out of it naked. 
Forty, fifty and more Russian women and girls 
dance and jump about in a state of nature 
without being in the least abashed by a pass- 
ing stranger." 

Peter himself set his people the worst exam- 
ple of immorality, which was reason enough 
why he should visit others with severe punish- 
ment on account of it. In his Army Regula- 
tions the following interesting paragraph ap- 
pears : 



49 



CHAPTER III, WHICH RELATES TO IMMORALITY. 

Art. I. 

A prostitute shall not be suffered in garrison, 
or on a march, or in camp, but shall be imme- 
diately denounced and cast out. 

Art. II. 

As indecent language leads to unchastity, it, 
as well as lewd songs, is forbidden under 
heavy penalties. 

Art. III. 

Adultery will be punished according to the 
laws of the State to which the offender belongs. 

Art. IV. 

Rape will be punished with death. 

Art. Y. 

Unnatural crime will be punished with 
burning. 

That the Tzar was capable of treating such 
serious matters with humor is shown by the 
following incident which took place in Moscow 
in 1724, and caused much amusement : ^ 

50 



An eminent Russian who was well advanced 
in years was married to a young and pretty 
wife who had a lover. One day the wife and 
her . paramour were surprised by the sudden 
apparition of the husband upon the scene. The 
gallant in his embarrassment and haste seized 
the husband's trousers in 2)lace of his own, 
which contained his gold watch, a heavy gold 
purse, and other valuables. When the injured 
husband discovered the booty, he came to the 
rational conclusion that for the sake of the prec- 
ious trousers he would swallow in silence his 
grievance and disgrace. Not so well contented 
was the beloved fugitive. The loss of his 
trousers afflicted him so sensibly that he deter- 
mined to make an effort to recover them. 
With this view he approached the old man as 
he was leaving the church, drew liim aside, 
kissed his hands and his feet, implored forgive- 
ness for his oftense and begged to have his 
trousers returned to him. The wily old hus- 
band upbraided him for his foolish talking, 
which he declared resembled the ravings of a 
madman, praised his wife as a pattern of virtue 
and conjugal fidelity, and departed, leaving 
the young man annihilated. He then went 
and threw himself at the feet of the Tzar, con- 
fessed his fault and begged for his assistance. 

51 



But the Tzar pronounced this judgment : " To 
the husband belongs all that he shall find upon 
the marriage bed." * 

* Sigismui) d Herbersteiu, Commentarius rerum Mos- 
coviticarum, Autv. lo57. Ant. Possevini, Moscovia, 
Colon, 1587. Neugebauer, Historical Russioe, Moscovia, 
1613. Petri Petreji, Moscowitisclie Chronica, Leipzig, 
1620. Samuel Collins, The Present State of Russia, 
Loudon, 1667. A Relation of Three Ambassadors 
from His Sacred Majesty Charles the Second to the 
Great Duke of Moscov, etc., by Carl Carlis, London, 
1668. Nicholas Witsen, Travels in Russia and Tartary, 
Amsterdam, 1671. Reutenfels De Rebus Moscoviticis, 
Patav, 1680. Alberti Heidenfeld, Beschreibung der 
Orientalischen Konigreiche Turckey, Perse in, Moscau 
und China, Franckfurt, 1680. Daniel Prinz a Buchau, 
Moscovici ortus et Progressus, de Ducibus Moscovise, 
etc, 1680. Prinz Buchau, De Rebus Moscoviticis, Patav, 
1680. Histoire de Moscovie par Meyerberg. L'Etat du 
Grand Due de Moscovie, Paris, 1680. Das grossed und 
Machtige Reich Moskowien, Nurnberg, 1687. Aegidius 
Fletcher, De Rebus Russicis. Tauneri Legatio in Mos- 
coviam, Norimb., 1689. Georg Adam Schleusings Neu- 
, entdecktes Sybirien, Jena, 1690. Adam Olearius, Mos- 
cowitische und Persianische Reyssbeschreibung, Ham- 
burg, 1696. Allison, Voyage from Archangel in Russia 
in the Year 1697. Histoire Curieuse dc Moscovie. A la 
Haye, 1699. Der Moscowitische Statt., 1702. Kurzc 
Beschreibung von Moscowien, Nurnberg, 1711. Treuirs 
Einleitung zur Moscow. Historic, Leipzig, 1720. Sal- 
mon, Der Staat von Russland, Altoua, 1742. Strahlen- 
berg. Northern and Eastern Europe, Stockholm, 1750. 
Schicmann, Russland bis ins Siebzehnte Jahrhundert, 
Berlin, 1884. Bruckner, The Question of V/omen in 
Russia in the Time of Peter the Great. Russian RcvicAv, 



XV., 120. Kleiuschmiclt, Russlauds Gescliiclite, Dar- 
gestellt in der Seiues Adels, Cassel, 1877. Brucknci-) 
Bilder aus Russlands Vergaugeubeit, Leipzig, 1887. 
"W. Pierson, Aus Russlands Vergangenlieit, Leipzig, 1870. 
Bruckner, Die Europaisierung Russlands, Gotlia, 1880. 
Engelmann, Peter the Great, an Exposition, Dorpat, 
1872. De la Marche, Anecdotes Russes, Londres, 1764. 
Crusenstolpe, Der Russische Hof., Hamburg, 1855, Vol. 
1. Hermann, Geschichte des Russischen Staates, Leip- 
zig. Rambaud, Histoire de la Russie, Paris, 1878. 
Hupels nordische und Neue nordischeMiscellauen, Riga, 
1782, 19 Bande. Ustrjalows History of Russia. Gal- 
itzin, La Russie au XVIII. siecle, Paris, 1863. Schlosser, 
Geschichte des 17, und 18. Jahrhunderts. Ssolowjew, 
History of Russia. 



53 



I^IARRIAGE AND AMOURS OF PETER 
THE GREAT. 



Peter's Early Excesses. — His Marriage with Eudoxia 
Lopucbiua. — Difference of Ctiaracter. — Eudoxia's 
Hatred of Mentscbikoff. — Tbe Favorite's Revenge. — 
Eudoxia's Banishment. --Her Supposed Love Affair.— 
Her Revenge on Mentscbikoff. — The Noble Anna 
Mons. — Peter's Mistresses. 



THE difficulties and dangers in which Peter's 
youth had been passed had hardened and 
embittered him, so that while his mind soared to 
the highest spheres of thought and knowledge, 
his soul Avas stained l)y the basest passions. 
While yet a boy, in the company of his wild 
associates he gave himself up to dissipation 
and profligacy, wliile his mother passed her 
days in bitterness and her nights in anxiety. 

When he reached the age of sixteen, Natalia 
Kirillovna determined to choose for him a wife, 
hoping thus to bring him to lead a more quiet 

54 



and regular existence. She called upon the 
Bojars and Vovwods of the Empire to send 
their daughters to Moscow. This was the last 
time that a Russian ruler followed the old cus- 
tom of choosing a wife from among the daugh- 
ters of the land. 

The summons was obeyed and the Vovwods 
and Bojars sent their daughters, those of them at 
least who were comely and graceful, to Mos- 
cow. The choice of the Tzarina after observ- 
ing the damsels fell upon Eudoxia Feodorovna, 
the daughter of Feodor Abramovitch Lopuchin, 
a prominent and wealthy noble. On the 27th 
of January, 1689, the wedding was celebrated 
with pomp, and Eudoxia ascended the throne 
which she was to share with Peter Alexejevitch. 

It is certain that Eudoxia loved her husband 
and was for a moment at least loved by him 
for her beauty, but she was not able long to 
enchain the Tzar. She was without education, 
as her letters show, and had no interest in the 
affairs that actively engaged Peter. To the 
Tzar's restless activity she opposed a cold indif- 
ference. She lived like an oriental, never 
showing herself in public, driving in a well 
closed and curtained carriage, and in the early 
morning or late evening, that she might not be 
seen by any on€. Her carriage was lined with 

55 



red velvet and drawn by six horses. On either 
side rode a numerous train of attendants in full 
dress military uniform. She had her chapel 
in the palace where she and her ladies wor- 
shipped, and never attended a public place ot 
worshij). 

To Peter, on the other hand, the restricted 
life of his forefathers w^as irksome. He wished 
to be seen every day by his subjects, and to 
mingle wnth them without restraint. Associ- 
ating with foreigners, esj)ecially, was his delight. 

The Tzarina was peevish and faultfinding, 
and greeted the Tzar upon his return from 
amusements in which light women took part, 
with long curtain lectures, which to the auto- 
crat of all the Russias could not l)ut be insup- 
portable. 

In addition to all this, Mentschikoff, the 
Tzar's all-powerful favorite, hated his master's 
wife and neglected no opportunity to irritate 
him against her. Eudoxia had accused liim in 
the presence of ladies and gentlemen of the 
Court of corrupting and misleading the Tzar, 
and of enticing him into the society of loose 
women who had patronized him when he was 
selling cakes. This taunt Mentschikoff never 
forgave. He voW' ed vengeance, and the favorite 
triumphed over the wife. 



One night, returning late from one of his 
revels, on being reproached by Eudoxia for his 
drunkenness and profligacy, the Tzar was roused 
to such a pitch of fury that she was forced to fly 
from him in terror. From this time the breach 
was complete, although I^eter did not go so far 
as openly to repudiate his wife during the life- 
time of his mother. But on January 25, 1G94, 
Natalia Kirillovna died, and with her all that 
the Tzar had held in respect. He forthwith 
gave notice to Eudoxia that she was to retire to 
a convent for the remainder of her life. And 
she was then just twenty. 

She refused to obey. Then Mentschikoff 
came to the help of his master. He proved to 
his satisfaction that Eudoxia had been impli- 
cated in the revolt of the Streltzi, as a punishment 
for which she was divested of everything she pos- 
sessed and banished to the convent of Ssushdal 
where she lived many years as Sister Helena. 
But her troubles did not end here. When, 
years after, her son Alexis was brought to trial, 
Mentschikoff appeared as her accuser. It was 
charged that in the offices of a church adjoin- 
ing the convent, Eudoxia was recognized as the 
Tzarina ; that she had worn the garb of a nun 
for a brief space only ; that she had maintained 
a correspondence with a Major Gljeboff, and 

57 



bad been implicated witb bim in intrigues 
against the Tzar. 

Tbe first tbree charges were true ; slie was 
found guilty also of tbe fourth. In Eudoxia's 
letters to Gljeboff however there is no refer- 
ence to politics, but only to love. They are 
filled with expressions of the most ardent pas- 
sion, and bear witness to depth and warmth of 
feeling, to a nature in which there was love 
enough to forgive. In contrasting her cold 
conventional letters to Peter with the ardent 
passion of her letters to Gljeboff, one must regret 
that the Tzar had not won her heart for 
himself. Once and only once, and as if by 
constraint, does an endearing expression for the 
Tzar escape her pen. 

The discovery of the relations between the 
deposed Tzarina and Major Gljeboff infuriated 
Peter. He is said to have applied with his own 
hand the torture and knout to force from her a 
confession of guilt. Gljeboff, also, was put to 
the torture, but he maintained to the last 
Eudoxia's innocence. As a punishment for his 
" obduracy " he was impaled alive, and it was 
several hours before death, which found him in 
full possession of his senses, came to end his 
sufferings. The Tzar was present and witnessed 
his martyrdom. When Gljeboff saw him he 

58 



spat in his face, exclaiming : " Go ! Tyrant ! 
Let me at least die in peace." 

Eudoxia was confined like a common offender 
in the convent of Staraja Ladoga, at Schliissel- 
berg, where she lived on bread, water and 
greens, until her grandson Peter ascended the 
throne. She was then recalled to the court, 
and came with joy to assist in the fall of her 
mortal enemy, Mentschikoff. His banishment 
to Siberia was due to her efforts in a great 
measure. Her work of vengeance accomplished, 
she withdrew again into obscurity, and lived 
in retirement until her death on the 10th of 
September, 1731. 

After his separation from Eudoxia Peter 
abandoned himself to a life of profligacy. The 
great ruler who had lifted the Empire out of 
barbarism remained himself a barbarian, inca- 
pable of imposing upon himself the slightest 
restraint. He who punished with cruel severity 
the least transgression on the part of his sub- 
jects, went himself from crime to crime. Woman- 
hood had no sacredness for him. After 
Prince Wladimir of Kiev, he must have been 
the one of all the Russian rulers who perverted 
the largest number of women. 

The morals of the court of Peter were of the 
worst description, and only one young and 

59 



beautiful woman is said to have resisted his 
wooing. The memory of these women, who 
participated in many affairs of State and to 
whose laxity of morals many illustrious houses 
owe their origin, has for the most part passed 
away. A few names only have l^een preserved 
as associated with the loves of Peter. 

Anna Mons de la Croix, according to some 
a Livonian and the daughter of an innkeeper, 
according to others the descendant of a noble 
and distinguished Dutch house, was the one 
woman of Peter's court who disdained the 
Tzar's rough wooing. All agree in describing 
her as a model of perfect womanhood. To the 
most fascinating beauty she united a pure and 
noble character, sensibility without sentiment- 
aiism, a waywardness which piqued without 
becoming wilfulness, a vivacity which did not 
contradict the goodness of her heart, and a play- 
ful wit which attempered the circumspection 
of her behavior. These qualities which won 
her an ascendency in the circle in which she 
moved, could not fail to attract the notice of 
the Tzar. Pie offered her his love bluntly and 
concisely, and she as bluntly and concisely 
repulsed him. 

Peter renewed his suit almost humbly, ac- 
companying it with the most tempting offers, 

60 



and with a present of a house in St. Petersburg. 
But Anna Mons remained insensible, and 
quietly and gravely repelled him. The en- 
amoured Tzar, his passion increasing with the 
resistance it encountered, was resolved to stop 
at nothing to accomplish his purpose. He was 
ready even to marry Anna Mons and to make 
her Empress, if she was not otherwise to bo 
won. 

But Anna secretly loved another — Baron 
Kaiserling, the German ambassador at St. 
Petersburg. Mentschikoff, dreading the loss 
of his own influence through the Tzar's love 
for Anna Mons, slijDped into the latter' s hands 
one evening upon his arrival late at a ball, a 
letter in which Anna complained to her be- 
trothed of the Tzar's persecutions. This dis- 
covery changed Peter's love into rage and hate. 
After' a stormy scene he was ungenerous 
enough to demand the restoration of the house 
with which he had presented her. 

Anna left the ball in haste, and informed her 
betrothed of what had happened. Kaiserling 
now resolved to marry her at once and protect 
her from a fresh outburst of the Tzar's wrath. 
But he suddenly and unaccountably sickened 
and died, and the marriage took place on his 
deathbed. After the death of her husband 

Gl 



Anna's life was rendered inexpressibly pain- 
ful by the persecutions of the greatest of Rus- 
sian rulers until his death twenty years later.* 

Peter had not similar obstacles to encounter 
in storming the heart of a sister of Anna's, the 
wife of General Balk. Although a woman 
well advanced in years, she long held the Tzar 
a captive. She played no very important role, 
however, as his mistress, but came after his 
death to be much talked of in connection with 
the tragic love affair of her brother. 

The shining role in connection with the 
amours of Peter the Great was played by the 
daughter of a serf, afterwards Catharine I. The 
history of the world has not another woman 
whose destiny can be compared with hers. 
Born a serf, she became successively the 
wife of a soldier, the mistress of two Russian 
generals, the mistress and then the wife of the 
greatest of Russian monarchs, and herself the 
ruler of the greatest empire in the world. And 
at her death after a reign of two years the 

""Bruckner has several times asserted that Peter had 
"relations" with Anna for ten years. These relations 
were not, however, very intimate. That Peter desired 
Anna to become his mistress is certain. But it is no less 
certain that she resisted him. Bruckner asserts also that 
she married the Prussian Ambassador Kaiserling and 
soon after died. That is an error. 

G2 



courts of Europe wore mourning for her dur- 
ing many weeks. 

Peter was guilty of a very base action to- 
ward a young woman of Hamburg. While 
on a visit to that city in 1716 — in the company 
of Catharine, be it remarked — he made the 
acquaintance of the daughter of a Lutheran 
clergyman. To see her and to be enamoured 
of her were one and the same thing. She was 
not herself averse to becoming the passing 
plaything of the Tzar, but her father refused 
positively to sacrifice his daughter to the im- 
perial profligate. He demanded that Peter 
should leave the girl in peace, or discard Cath- 
arine and marry her in due form. 

Peter accepted the latter alternative, the 
documents were drawn up, and the ceremony 
performed. The next morning, however, he 
returned the minister his daughter and de- 
manded the return of the marriage contract. 

A noteworthy mistress of Peter's was Anna 
Ivanovna Kramer, the beautiful daughter of a 
merchant of Narva. After the capture of that 
city by the Russians she was brought to 
Kasan on the Upper Volga, passed into the 
hands of General Balk at St. Petersburg, and 
by him was presented to Miss Hamilton, a 
maid of honor, as her waiting maid. In this 

63 



way the Tzar saw her, and the sprightly dam- 
sel who be it said had many a tender recol- 
lection behind her, attracted his attention and 
awakened his interest. He became a frequent 
visitor at the house of Miss Hamilton. During 
these visits Miss Kramer had to be admitted to 
the family circle, and she understood how to 
employ the arts of coquetry so as to captivate the 
Tzar. To be able to see her more frequently 
he gave her a position in the palace, and she 
\ preserved for a long time his favor and confi- 
dence. She was one of the few who were in 
the secret of the murder of the Tzarevitch. 
After General Weide had cut off the Prince's 
head, the Emperor invited his mistress into the 
apartment where lay the headless corjDse, and 
she sewed the head to the body while still 
dripping with blood and dressed it for exhibi- 
tion in the church. 

Soon after this ghastly deed Anna Ivanova 
yielded her place to others, but the Tzar did 
not forget her service to him of which with 
surprising steadfastness not a word escaped her, 
and rewarded her richly with money and 
lands. After the death of Peter she returned 
to Narva where she lived a half century 
longer, dying in 1770 at the age of seventy-six. 

The Miss Hamilton, who has already been 

64 



mentioned, was another of the Tzar's mistresses, 
and bore him a child. As Peter's amours were 
short-lived Miss Hamilton was soon discarded. 
She reproached him bitterly, but her reproaches 
being without effect, by way of revenge she 
murdered the child to whom Peter was very 
much attached. She paid for her vengeance 
with her life. The Tzar caused her to be be- 
headed, and presented her head to the Acade- 
my of Sciences with instructions to preserve it 
carefully. The head of the woman soon had 
as its companion the handsome head of a man. 

These were passing ca]3rices which Catharine 
might view with tolerable indifference. A more 
serious affair was his fancy for the young Prin- 
cess Kantemir, which in the latter years of his 
life came to possess much significance. 

The Kantemir family were reputed to be de- 
scended from Chan Timur, the Asiatic world- 
stormer. Dmitry, a son of the Moldavian 
Woyvod Constantine Kantemir, came to St, 
Petersburg in 1711, was raised to the rank of 
prince and became a favorite of Peter the Great. 
He was a zealous friend of the Academy of 
Sciences, and wrote a historia cle ortu et defedione 
imperi turcici. His son, Antioch Dmitryjc- 
vitch, was the first Russian satirist, and hip 
daughter — the last of Peter's mistresses. 

65 



The Princess Kantemir was reputed one of 
the most beautiful women of her time, and 
Peter was so much enamoured of lier as to be 
wilUng for her sake to repudiate Catharine. 
Tlieir relations grew still closer when there 
was the promise of the birth of a child, perhaps 
a son, for whom the Emperor ardently longed. 
But tiie birth was premature, and angered by 
the disappointment Peter broke off with her 
and returned to Catharine, who regained so com- 
pletely her old ascendency that the Tzar crowned 
her and named her his successor. Scarcely 
had he done this than her scandalous relations 
with the Chamberlain Mous came to light. 

Peter's vengeance was terrible, and the doom 
of Catharine appeared to be sealed. At this 
stormy period the Princess Kantemir reap- 
peared at court, and the Tzar, seeing himself 
betrayed turned again to her. He discovered 
that the miscarriage of the Princess had been 
brought about by Doctor Policula, Catharine's 
tool, and formed the design to repudiate her 
and raise the Princess to the throne. 

But swifter than the vengeance of the Tzar 
was the sickle of death. It cut off Peter the 
Great before he liad accomplished his design. 

Des grosseu Herreus Czaars Petri Alexowiz Leben 
uud Thateii. Ton J. 11. von L. Franckfurt uud Leipzig, 

GG 



1710. Perry, The State of Russia, Londou, 1717. Korb, 
Diarium Itiueris in Moscoviam, Vienna, 1698. Le Brun, 
Voyage par la Moscovie en Perse, Amsterdam, 1718. 
An impartial history of Peter Alexowitz, by a British 
officer in the service of the Czar, London, 1723, J. G. 
Rabener, Lebeu Petri des Ersteu und Grosseu, Leipzig, 
1725. Nestesuranoi, Memoires du regne de Pierre le 
Grand, 1729-1737. Vita di Pietro il Grande, dall' Abbate 
A. Catiforo, Venezia, 1739. Peter I., by John Mottley, 
London, 1739. Mauvillon, Histoire de Pierre I. le Grand. 
Amsterdam et Leipzig, 1742. A. Gordon, The History 
of Peter the Great, Aberdeen, 1755. German, Leipzig, 
1765. Voltaire, Histoire de I'Empire de Russie sous 
Pierre le Grand, Geneve, 1761-1763. German, Frauck- 
furt und Leipzig, 1761-1764. Bacmeister, Beytrage zur 
Geschichte Peters des Grossen, Riga, 1774. Hupel, 
Nordische Miscellanen, Riga, 1782. Jacob Stahlin, 
Original Auekdoten von Peter demErsten, Leipzig, 1785. 
Golikow, Deeds of Peter the Great, Moskau, 1788. 30 
A'ols. Russian. G. A. von Halem, Leben Peters des 
Grossen, Munster und Leipzig, 1803-1804. J. Ch. A. 
Bauer, Unterhaltende Auekdoten aus dem 18. Jahrhun- 
dert Peter der Erste, Leipzig, 1804. Duncker & Hum- 
blot. B. Bergmaun, Peter der Gresse als Mensch und 
Regent, Konigsberg und Riga, 1823-1826. Segur, Ges- 
chichte Russlandsunter Peter dem Grossen, 1829. Reiche, 
Peter der Grosse und Seine Zeit. Pelz, Geschichte 
Peters des Grossen, Leipzig, 184S. Belani, Peter der 
Grosse, Seine Zeit und sein Hof., Leipzig, 1856. Ustrja- 
loff. History cf the Reign of Peter the Great, St. Peters- 
burg, 1858. Russian. Kamensky, Century of Peter the 
Great, St. Petersburg, 1858. Golovine, Histoire de Pierre 
I., Leipzig, 1861. Engelmaun, Peter der Grosse, Dor- 
pat, 1872. Pogodin, The tirst 17 years of the life of 
Peter the Great, Moscow, 1875. Russian. Barrow, Life 
of Peter the Great, London, 1883. Schuyler, Life of 

67 



Peter the Great, London, 1884. Hallez, Memoires secrets 
pour servir a I'Mstoire de la Russie sous les regnes de 
Pierre le Grand et Catherine I., Bruxelles, 1853. Me- 
moires historiques, politiques et militaires sur la Russie, 
German, 1771. A select collection of singular and inter- 
esting histories, London, 1774. Le Clerc, Histoire de la 
Russie, Paris, 1783-1794. Merkwurdige Anekdoten aus 
der Geschichte Russlands bis 173(3, Wien, 1787. G. A. 
W. von Helbig, Russische Gunstlinge, Tubingen, 1809. 
Maison imperiale de la Russie, Paris, 1828. La Croix, 
Mysteres de la Russie, Paris, 1845. Denkwurdigkeiten 
des Petersberger Hofes, Leipzig, 1845. Crusenstolpe, 
Der Russische Hof., Hamburg, 1855. Ustrjalof, History 
of Russia. Galitzin, La Russie au XVIII. siecle, Paris, 
1863. Schlosser, Geschichte des XVIII. Jahrhunderts. 
Hermann, Geschichte des Russischen Staates. Peter der 
Grosse. Lebensbild eines Monarchen, von R. v. R., 
Berlin, 1869, Ssolowjef, History of Russia, Moskau, 
1882. The best work on Peter is by A.Bruckner, Berlin, 
Grote, 1879, wherein a veil is cast over many things 
through which it is easy to see that the author knows 
more than he will tell. 



68 



CATHARINE THE FIRST AND HER 
LOVERS. 



Catharine's Marvelous Career — Her First Lover — Her 
First Husband — The Mistress of Scheremetjeff, of 
Meutschikoff, of the Tzar — Empress — Villebois, 
Mons, Sapieha and Rivenvoldern. 



IN looking at the marvellous career of Cath- 
arine I. it seems that only a human prodigy 
could have risen from so humble an estate to 
so dazzling a height — that chance could not 
have lifted any one so high. In addition to 
her beauty, which is said to have been seduc- 
tive, Catharine was a woman of remarkable 
talent, of great prudence in critical moments, 
and of energy in pursuing her objects. A 
rapid glance at her career fills us with wonder- 
ing admiration, but if we follow her step by 
step we see the flaws which the picture pres- 
ents. It was the coarest sensuality which 
raised this peasant girl to the imperial throne. 

69 



A'^oltaire spoke truly when he said that she 
possessed none of the characteristic virtues of 
her sex. Shame was unknown to her. 

She was the natural daughter of a Litliuan- 
ian who was, according to most writers, a serf on 
the estates of the Sapieha family known by the 
simple name of Samuel. Samuel made his 
escape to Dorpat, in Livonia, where all of 
his children were born, a son named Charles, 
and three daughters, Christina, Anna, and 
Martha, the latter on the It'th of April, 1G86. 
The parents were Catholics, and the children 
were reared in that faith. 

Upon Dorpat being visited by the plague 
Samuel fled with his family to Marienburg, in 
Livonia. But the pestilence on its march of 
triumph visited that place also, and carried ofl 
Samuel and his wife. The surviving children 
were cared for by charitable persons. Martha 
was received in the house of the minister, but 
he with his whole family succumbed to the 
epidemic, Martha alone as by a miracle sur- 
viving, 

A priest named Gliick, from Dunamunde, 
near Riga, upon learning the misfortunes which 
had overtaken INIarienburg went to that city to 
do what he could toward its assistance and 
rescue. He visited first the pastor's house, 

70 



where he found the little orphan fresh and 
well in the midst of the dead. Martha clung 
to him, called him father, and begged for some- 
thing to eat. The interest and compassion of 
the priest were aroused, and failing after dili- 
gent inc[uiry to discover any family or rela- 
tives of the child, he took her to his own home. 
Gllick remained in Marienburg. 

The little guest did not meet with a very cor- 
dial welcome from Gliick's wdfe. He per- 
suaded her however to keep Martha, and she 
remained with them and was brought up in 
the Lutheran religion. Thus began the career 
of the future Empress. 

As soon as the girl was old enough, she was 
assigned to duty with the maids. In this posi- 
tion Martha presented a striking contrast with 
her fellow-servants. Her beauty increased 
every day, and it was no wonder the minister's 
son fell in love with her. The daughters of 
Gliick, envious of her beauty, disparaged and 
scorned her, and the more they did so the 
more ardent became the young man's devo- 
tion, and the more he felt it his duty to take 
the young orphan under his protection. 

Months, years, passed away. 

The beautiful child had grown into a capti- 
vating woman, and had already yielded her 

71 



heart to her faithful lover, the pastor's son. 
Gliick and his wife were not long in observing 
the intimate relation which subsisted between 
the two, and fearing a marriage between their 
son and the strange girl, they resolved to pro- 
vide her with a husband. They had not long 
to wait for the opportunity. 

A young Swedish soldier named Joliann* 
fell in love with her and asked to marry 
her. Gliick gladly gave his consent, and the 
marriage took place without delay. 

They had been but three days married when 
the young husband was summoned to accom- 
pany his regiment to the field. The young- 
wife again became a servant at Gliick' s, and 
in all probability renewed her relations with 
the son. 

On the 23d of August, 1702, Marienburg 
was invested by the Russian colonel, Judas 
Boltin. The place was too weak to offer re- 
sistence, and Major Thilo, the Swedish officer 
in command, displayed the white flag and 
went to the Russian camp to surrender at dis- 
cretion. 

Meanwhile two other Swedish officers, Wolff 



*Accorcliug to some the name of the Swedish soldier 
was Johann Rabin. See Bergmann, II., 80. Golikoff, 
Suppl. VI, 1G4. 



and Gottslich, one a captain the other an en- 
sign in the artillery, determined to destroy the 
town and perish with it rather than surrender 
without resistance. They permitted the Rus- 
sian troops to enter and then lighted the pow- 
der stored in the turret. A terrible explosion 
followed, a number of houses were destroyed 
and many soldiers both Russians and Swedes 
perished. Enraged at this act of treachery, the 
Russian commander gave his men license to 
work their will in plundering and murdering. 
The terrified inhabitants besought Gllick to 
hasten to General Scheremetjeff and beg for 
mercy. Gliick did so taking with him Martha. 
Her beauty attracted the attention of all, and of 
Scheremetjeff in particular. He paid little 
heed to the preacher, but kept his eyes riveted 
ujDon Martha. At last he said : 

" I will forgive everything if you will give me 
this girl." 

It was in vain that Gliick represented that 
Martha was married. In vain that Martha 
had recourse to prayers and tears. The tears 
only heightened her beauty, and the height- 
ened beauty increased Scheremetjeff' s passion. 
As he refused to recede from his demand, 
Gliick, fearing to exasperate him, surrendered 
Martha to him. 

73 



Martha remained only six or seven months 
the slave and mistress of Scheremetjeff, at the 
end of which time tlie latter delivered up his 
Livonian command to Prince Mentschikoff. 
In the course of making the exchange Ment- 
schikoff saw Martha and begged his predeces- 
sor to relinquish her to him, and Scheremet- 
jeff dared not refuse the request of the Tzar's 
all-powerful favorite. 

The exchange was not unpleasing to Martha, 
for Scheremetjeff was old and ugly, while 
Mentschikoff was in the prime of manhood, 
good looking, gay, and lively. They lived 
for some time together, and Martha, though a 
slave the mistress of her master's heart, en- 
joyed in his house consideration and freedom 
and was perfectly happy. 

But her lawful husband, the Swedish dra- 
goon, having served his time returned home, 
and learning the fate of his wife hastened to 
her and claimed his rights. After some per- 
suasion Martha prevailed upon him not to 
claim her openly but to content himself with 
secret visits. 

Martha therefore had two husbands until 
Mentschikoff removed his headquarters to 
Livonia to unite his forces with those of the 
Tzar and the slave accompanied him, Johann 

74 



remaining in Marienburg. Mentschikoft' kept 
his slave carefully concealed from the eyes of 
the other generals, and from the Tzar. 

But his jealous watchfulness was defeated 
when in a moment of drunken folly he 
boasted of possessing a mistress who was the 
most beautiful woman that had ever lived. 
Every one insisted upon seeing this marvel of 
creation. MentschikofF refused to produce her, 
but as the Tzar insisted he was forced to con- 
sent to have her appear. 

Martha came. The wine-heated assembly 
agreed that the boast of Mentschikoff was veri- 
fied, that she was the most beautiful woman 
who had ever been seen. Peter at first said 
nothing. After awhile he stepped up to Ments- 
chikoff and whispered sometliing in his ear. 

The favorite turned pale. 

The Tzar looked at him earnestly and ques- 
tioningly. 

The Prince nodded assent, and Catharine's 
fate was sealed. 

Peter turned to the young slave with some 
jesting remarks, to which she responded with a 
wit and intelligence that surprised him. 

From this time the daughter of the Liv- 
onian serf remained with the Tzar, having 
thus swiftly and suddenly climbed to the 
pinnacle of human greatness. 



Mentschikoff was not however left without 
consolation. In relinquishing his mistress to 
the Tzar he had not lost her heart. She re- 
mained true to him, and grateful for the happy 
hours she owed him. He had in her his 
strongest supporter, and her influence with the 
Tzar was solid and lasting. 

Martha was installed in the palace as a ser- 
vant. When in 1703, she accompanied the 
Tzar to Moscow, she changed again her religion 
and adopted the Greek faith. Peter's half- 
sister, Catharine, officiated as godmother, and 
the Tzarevitch Alexis was obliged to act the 
part of godfather to the mistress of Peter, who 
had afterwards no small share in his cruel fate. 
Martha received the name of Catharine Alexe- 
jevna, the combined names of Catharine and 
Alexis. 

Together with the Russian religion she 
adopted the Russian language, which she quick- 
ly learned quite forgetting the Esthonian and 
German so that when on a visit years afterwards 
to the Court of Berlin she was unable to converse 
with the King of Prussia in his own tongue. 
The knowledge of the Russian language how- 
ever, remained the extent of her acquirements. 
She never learned to read and write, and dur- 
ing her reign her daugliter Elizabeth signed 



her name. Neither had she the shghtest idea 
of arithmetic. Nevertheless she succeeded in 
attaching to her during his whole life a mon- 
arch so aspiring as Peter the Great. 

The feature of Catharine's character which 
best pleased Peter was her pliancy. This was 
her greatest talent, the one which made her 
Peter's Empress, and afterwards an independ- 
ent sovereign, and it was the primary cause of 
the lasting place which she preserved in the 
fancy of the fickle Tzar. The wife that suited 
Peter was a slave, whose subserviency never 
reminded him of his duty, and neither ex- 
acted nor expected constancy. Catharine's 
moral depravity demanded of the Tzar no re- 
spect. In the point of view of morals she was/ 
his mate ; like him, she had behind her a pro] 
miscuous past. They had therefore no cause 
to reproach each other. She permitted him 
full liberty, overlooked his former liaisons, and 
not only permitted new ones but even assisted 
in them. Thus she preserved for him her 
freshness ever new. After each change he re- 
turned to his Catharine, who knew how to 
sharpen his appetite with fresh surprises. She 
was full of solicitude for his already failing 
health, accompanied him on his most danger- 
ous expeditions, cared for him by day and by 

77 



night, and her never faiUng good humor ren- 
dered her society indispensable to him. 

General Gordon, who held a military post 
nnder Peter and Catharine says of the latter : 
"Her invariable good humor made her a favor- 
ite with every one with whom she came in con- 
tact ; she was never moody, or angry, or 
capricious." 

With a view to bind the Tzar more closely 
to her, Catharine bribed a clergyman of Riga, 
by the name of Briining, to show Peter an old 
document claimed to have been discovered in 
the archives of the city containing the prophecy, 
" He only can achieve the conquest of 
Livonia who shall wed a daughter of the land." 

Although Peter was far from superstitious, 
this made a great impression upon him on ac- 
count of the fulfilment of the prophecy. After 
a long and hard struggle, Livonia came into 
the possession of Russia, almost at the same 
time that Catharine came into that of Peter. 

Married to her the Tzar was not yet, how- 
ever. He had not dared so far to defy the 
customs of the land as to take a second wife 
while the first was still alive. Catharine at 
first was given a place among the Court ser- 
vants, and, soon advanced to the post of nominal 
wife to the Court cook, which permitted her to 



be employed near the Emperor and to accom- 
pany him on his travels. In order completely to 
carry out the appearance, she occupied the 
cook's lodgings. 

On October 28, 1707, Peter secretly married 
his mistress in the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity 
at Moscow. The mask however was soon 
thrown off, to which the following circumstance 
may have contributed: 

Sometime in the year 1710, the Swedish 
soldier Johann was brought a prisoner to Mos- 
cow. He gave out that he was the husband of 
Catharine in the hope of obtaining an ameli- 
oration of his lot. But when his assertion 
came to the ears of Peter he banished him to 
the most remote regions of Siberia, where he 
was seen as late as the year 1721. 

By this act the Tzar betrayed himself. The 
secret, which it was impossible longer to con- 
ceal, leaked out, and during the year 1710 
Catharine began to be addressed at the Court 
as " Your Ladyship." 

Peter was led to take the final step by a 
project which, although broached by Mentschi- 
koff had been incessantly nourished, albeit 
prudently concealed, by Catharine, that the 
succession to the throne should not rest exclu- 
sively with Alexis. On the 6th of March, 

79 



therefore, Peter recognized Catharine as his 
only, his rightful and lawful wife, and raised 
her children to the rank of princes and prin- 
cesses. 

On the same day on which this proclamation 
was issued, the " young pair " set out to visit 
the army at Moscow, which Scheremetcheff 
was conducting toward the Dneister to attack 
Moldavia by way of Poland. 

As Peter could not endure a separation from 
Catharine she accompanied him on his foreign 
travels. The strange pair naturally attracted 
much attention at the European Courts. 

If Peter himself was an object of wonder to 
the Continent, the slave whom he had raised 
to the throne was beyond belief. In the " pair 
of barbarians " much was found to murmur at, 
and not without good cause. 

On the 8th of September, 1717, Peter and 
Catharine visited the Court of Berlin. The 
Margravine of Baireuth has left in her memoirs 
an account of this visit, which is worth repro- 
ducing : 

" The Tzar," she tell us, "arrived here from 
Holland. He had stopped at Cloves for the 
lying-in of the Empress. As he was not fond 
of society he requested the King to permit him 
to occupy a pleasure house of the Queen's in a 
suburb of Berlin. The latter was greatly vexed. 

80 



She had built a very pretty house and furnished 
it with care and magnificence. It had costly 
galleries of porcelain, and the rooms were 
adorned with mirrors. The house being a little 
jewel it was given the name ' Monbijou.' It had 
a pretty garden bordering on the river, which 
lent to it a great attraction. 

"To provide against the disorder which the 
Russian ladies had left behind them wherever 
they had been the Queen removed the costly 
furniture and everything which was capable of 
being broken. 

" In a few days the Tzar and his wife and 
their suite arrived at Monbijou. The King 
and Queen received them at the river's side. 
The King assisted the Tzar out of the boat, and 
as soon as he had landed, the Tzar offered the 
King his hand, saying : ' I am delighted to see 
you, Brother Frederic!:.' Then he approached 
the Queen and was going to embrace her, but 
she drew back. The Tzarina kissed the 
Queen's hand several times. They then pre- 
sented the Duke and Duchess of Mecklenburg, 
who had accompanied the Russian court and 
four hundred so-called ' ladies ' of their suite. 
These were for the most part German servants, 
who performed the offices of ladies-in-waiting, 
chambermaids, cooks and laundresses. Almost 
all of them had in their arms a richly dressed 
child, and each, on being asked if the child 
was hers, answered, making her salamalaka 
in the Russian fashion : ' The Tzar did me the 
honor to make this child.' 



81 



" The Queen positively objected to saluting 
these creatures. The Tzarina revenged herself 
by treating the princesses of the blood with 
haughtiness, and it was with difhculty that the 
King could prevail on her to salute them. 

" I saw the whole court on the following day 
when the Tzar and his wife returned the Queen's 
visit. The Queen received the Imperial pair 
in the grand aj)artments of the palace, going to 
meet them as far as the guard-room. She 
offered her hand to the Tzarina, and j^lacing 
her on her right led her into the reception 
room. 

" The King followed with the Tzar ; the lat- 
ter recognized me at once, having seen me five 
years before. He placed my arm in his and 
kissed me so violently that he scraped my 
whole face. I boxed his ears and defended 
myself as best I could, saying : ' That I could 
not allow such familiarities, and that they were 
disrespectful.' He laughed at this and talked 
to me a long while. 

" My role had been prescribed for me in ad- 
vance. I talked to him about his fleet and 
his conquests, which so enchanted him that he 
several times observed to the Tzarina that he 
would cheerfully give one of his provinces for 
a child like me. The Tzarina was also very 
gracious to me. 

"The Queen sat by the Tzarina under the 
canopy of the throne, and I was near the Queen, 
the princesses of the blood sitting oj^posite to 
her. 



83 



" The Tzarina was small and thick-set, with- 
out nobility or grace. It was only necessary to 
see her to recognize her humble origin. From 
her dress she might have been taken for a 
German actress. It was purchased iVom a second 
hand dealer, was C[uite old-fashioned and over- 
loaded with silver and gilt ornaments. The 
front of her bodice was adorned with jewels 
arranged in the most bizarre fashion. They 
represented a double eagle, the wings composed 
of small and very badly set brilliants. She 
wore a dozen orders and as many pictures of 
saints and relics attached to the lapel of her 
gown, so that when she walked she made a 
jingling noise that reminded one of a mule. 

" The Tzar, on the other hand, was very 
stout and rather tall, and had a handsome face, 
but there was a savage look in it which made 
one afraid He was dressed quite simply, like 
a sailor. 

" When the company went to the table the 
Tzar was seated next the Queen. Owing to 
having been poisoned in his youth he suffered 
from a nervous affection which showed itself in 
a species of cramp. He was seized with one of 
these attacks at the table. A convulsion came 
on as he held his knife in his hand, and he 
iiourished it close to the Queen, who sprang up 
in alarm. He quieted her and begged her to 
remain seated, assuring her that he would do 
her no harm. The next instant he seized her 
hand and squeezed it so violently that she was 
obliged to beg for mercy, whereupon the Tzar 

83 



laughed, and said she had as tender knuckles 
as his Catharine. 

"Aftar supper all began preparation for a 
ball except the Tzar, who as soon as he arose 
from the table departed, returning on foot to 
Monbijou. 

" The next day there were pointed out to 
him the objects of interest in Berlin, among 
others the mint oflice and some antique statu- 
ary. Among the statues was one which ex- 
hibited a heathen divinity in a very indecent 
posture. In the days of the old Romans such 
representations were used as decorations for the 
bridal chamber. It was one of the rarest and 
most beautiful of these ancient statues. The Tzar 
was filled with admiration, and told the Tzarina 
to kiss it. She tried to refuse, whereupon he be- 
came very angry, and said in broken German : 
* Kopp ab ! ' which was equivalent to, ' I will 
have you beheaded if you do not obey me.' 
The Tzarina, terrified, did as he directed. 

" The next thing the Tzar did was to ask 
that the statue be presented to him. The re- 
C|uest could not be refused, and it was accom- 
panied by a small table with a wainscoting rf 
amber. This was something quite unique of 
its kind, and had cost Frederick I. an enormous 
sum of money. Its sad destiny, to the regret 
of everyone, was to be sent to St. Petersburg. 

"At the end of two daj^s this barbaric court 
took its departure. The Queen immediately 
set out for Monbijou, where another destruc- 
tion of Jerusalen had been in progress. Never 

84 



have I seen anything to equal it. Everything 
was in such a state of complete ruin that the 
whole house had to be refitted." 

So much for the Margravine of Baireuth. 
The truth of her description has, as might be 
expected, been warmly disputed by Russian 
authors. 

Granting however that the Princess Fred- 
erica has drawn too shocking a picture in her 
account of the four hundred " ladies ;" or of the 
statue, it must be acknowledged that the man- 
ners of the Russian Court were well fitted to 
offend the least flistidious. Even so sober an 
historian as Schlosser utters this condemna- 
tion : 

" Even in Prussia, and in presence of the 
Court, Peter permitted himself in familiarities 
with his niece, the Duchess of Mecklenburg, 
which coul 1 not be recited, and which, in the 
presence of others, would shame the rudest of 
barbarians." 

Catharine became every day more dear to 
Peter. Her well-known exploit at Pruth 
especially won for her his favor and approba- 
tion. 

Peter and his army were hemmed in in a 
desert country by an overwhelming Turkish 
force, and there seemed no way for him to ex- 

85 



tricate himself with honor. The choice was 
between starvation and surrender. Under 
these circumstances Catharine conceived the 
project of going in person to the enemy's camp 
and bribing the Grand Vizier. Collecting to- 
gether all her own jewels she went from camp 
to camp and begged from officers and soldiers 
every valuable object they would surrender. 

The Grand Vizier, won by the gold and 
jewels, as well as by the beauty of Catharine, 
granted the Russians a passage. 

When Peter was informed of Catharine's act 
he did not know how to be grateful enough. 
On his return from the war he created the or- 
der of Catharine and put aside the unlucky 
Alexis in favor of Catharine's son Peter. As, 
however, the latter died in earl}^ childhood, the 
Tzar chose Catharine as his successor and in 
1724 her coronation took place in Moscow. 
This design Mentschikoff had earnestly en- 
couraged, although Jaguschinski, a favorite, 
who went by the name of * " The Tzar's Eye," 

* Paul Jaguschinski, one of the most interesting of the 
favorites of Peter, was born in Moscow in 1583. His 
father was sacristan of the German-Lutheran Church 
there. In his eighteenth year Paul had the good fortune 
to become known to Peter I., and by his apt replies to 
win the favor of that Prince. He soon after adopted the 
Greek faith. Peter gave him a place in the Imperial 

86 



and who in the hitter part of Peter's reign en- 
joyed the greatest consideration, even obscuring 
for a time the ftxvor of Mentschikoff, strongly 
opposed it. 

He also gave wa}^ at last, however, and the 
coronation took place in May. But it was no 
sooner accomplished than Peter had cause to 
repent that he had listened to Mentschikoff 
rather than to Jaguschinski, for his love and 
confidence were ill requited. 

Chancellery, where he remained for some years and won 
great ecomium. He was afterwards transferred to the 
Guards, and thus brought in close contact with the Tzar, 
whose good graces he very soon Avon. He was one of 
those who, in 1717, signed the sentence of death of the 
unhappy Alexis . Four years later he was made Procu- 
rator General in the Senate, where, in the Emperor's 
name, he exercised a too controlling and the only de- 
cisive influence. After Peter's death he went over to 
the Empress, became her ardent supporter, and was re- 
warded for his fickleness Avith the rank of count. To- 
ward the close of Catharine's reign he fell into disgrace 
on accout of a difference with Mentschikoff. He out- 
lasted his opponent, however, Mentschikoff being exiled 
in the reign of Peter II., and after Peter's death he was 
a member of the High Assembly Avhich chose his succes- 
sor. On the accession of the Empress Anna, this Assem- 
bly ordered his arrest because he counseled the ncAV 
sovereign to violate the liberal capitulations and to reign 
like her predecessors, arbitrarily. The gratitude of the 
Empress, however, saved him. This was the first act of 
absolutism performed by Anna, who had bound herself 
to govern constitutionally and Avbo owed her elevation to 



It seemed as though there was no end to the 
trials of Peter toward the close of his life. He 
saw his house orphaned, himself without an 
heir. Of his seven children, his sons died 
in early youth, and all hope of seeing the struc- 
ture which he had reared preserved and ex- 
tended by a son of his own, educated with 
that view, had baen dashed to the ground. 
Seeing himself threatened with the subversion 
of the purposes to which his life had been 

the throne to this oath. Jaguschiuski again became 
Procurator General. He fell out, however, with Biron, 
and even drew his sword upon the poAverful favor- 
ite of the Empress. It is something to be wondered at 
and bears strong testimony to Anna's grateful disposi- 
tion that she permitted him to go unpunished, merely 
sending the too pugnacious- Jaguschiuski as Ambas- 
sador to Berlin. When she thought his hot blood 
had had time to cool, she recalled him, aud made 
Jiim a Minister in her Cabinet. He died in 1736, 
and was interred in the monastery of Newsky, Avhere 
his epitaph may be seen in the first church on the left 
liaud at the entrance to the cloister. Jaguschiuski. was 
•one of those as to whose intelligence the Tzar did not err. 
lie was a man of extraordinary ability and of an in- 
genuous character. He and Repnine were almost the 
only persons who were accustomed to speak the unvar- 
nished truth to Peter the Great. Unfortunately, his dis- 
position was violent and his love of drink incorrigible. 
.Jaguschiuski was twice married. His first wife he re- 
])udiated, the second was a Countess Golowkin. Of 
•the princely race which sprang from the sou of the 
sacristan it is not possible here to give an account. 



devoted by his own son, he had sent liim to 
his death, but in putting to death his son he 
had not extinguished the discontent which lie 
had aroused among a people who were unripe 
for the civilization he had thrust upon them, 
and which had forced him, the great Tzar of 
the Russians, to surround himself with foreign- 
ers, and to entrust to them the highest and 
most confidential posts in the Empire. Instead 
of love he had earned hate, instead of admira- 
tion and recognition, fear and contumacy. 

The few friends he had won during his life, 
the favorites whom he had taken from the 
dregs of the people and raised to the highest 
dignities, showed themselves at last, false and 
unworthy of his trust. He had to tear them 
out of his heart, to cast them out of his pres- 
ence, to deliver them to the executioner, to 
banish them into exile. 

To crown all he was seized with a frightful 
malady which distracted him with agony, 
which martyred and tortured him more terri- 
bly than he had martyred his son, or his worst 
enemies or antagonists. But all this had come 
upon him as the consequence of his own 
misdeeds, an unbroken chain of cause and 
effect 

The terrible malady which tormented his 



soul and body was a consequence of his 
drunken excesses, and his unbridled licencious- 
ness. The faithlessness of his officials and 
favorites was induced by his contempt of the 
opinions of others, and the cruel punishments 
which he inflicted upon all who differed from 
him. The reprobation and hatred of his sub- 
jects he had earned by his savage violence, and 
his despotic resolve to brook no delay in the 
execution of his behests. The early death of 
his children he owed to his brutality toward 
the Tzarina, even in the moment when her 
hour of trial was near. Finally, he had turned 
against him his son by his unworthy treatment 
of Eudoxia. The mother's hatred for her tor- 
mentor was bred in the child who as he ad- 
vanced in years groaned under his despotism, 
and who, w^hen he grew old enough to think, 
struggled to break the chains which oppressed 
him and to avenge her Avrongs. 

How dark, how gloomy, all now is about the 
Tzar ! The blackest clouds on the horizon 
have rolled together; damply and heavily pants 
the wind; sharp flashes quiver in the heavens, 
and at last on the forsaken Emperor the storm 
bursts forth. The day of vengeance for all the 
Tzar's wild lust has come, retribution for the 
bitter grief of Eudoxia, of Anna Mens, — and 

90 



it is a brother of the last who is the iustrument 
of retributive justice. 

Full is the cup of sin, full the cup of 
remorse. 

There lived in the capital a handsome young- 
man, Mons de la Croix, a brother of Anna 
Mons and of the wife of General Balk. Peter, 
who liked the company of foreigners, fancied 
the young man and often invited him to the 
palace. Catherine saw hhn and became enam- 
oured of his beauty. She drew him on and 
even brought him to be in love with her. In 
order to make it easy for them to meet, she se- 
cured him a position near her. At her instance 
Peter unsuspectingly appointed him first a gen- 
tleman of the bedchamber, and then chamber- 
lain to the Empress. 

For several years their intimacy continued, 
quiet and unnoticed. But the secret was at 
last betrayed, and the picjuant tale was whis- 
pered louder and louder until it reached the 
Tzar's ear. Fie refused to believe it, and re- 
mained unconcerned. But as more urgent 
warnings were brought to him, he bethought 
him of his former mistress, who was the sister 
of Mons and able therefore to keep an eye upon 
him. He commissioned her to examine into 
the facts of the supposed connection and to 
learn the truth. 

91 



Madame Balk made the terrible discovery 
that the relation did, in fact, exist. 

She hesitated long between her affection for 
her brother and her obedience to the Tzar. At 
last the former feeling prevailed, and she re- 
solved to incur the most severe punishment 
sooner than cause the ruin of her brother. 

The court was then at Peterhof, near St. 
Petersburg. 

The 8th of November, 1724, the Tzar feigned 
to go on a journey. Scarcely, however, had he 
left the palace than he returned, entered it un- 
observed and surprised the Tzarina and Mons 
together in a chamber. 

What happened is not to be described. 

When his first paroxysm of wrath had spent 
itself, during which he beat Catherine until 
she bled, he stormed into the adjacent room 
occupied by Prince Repnin, his Adjutant 
General. 

It was two hours past midnight. 

Pepnin sprang up upon Peter's entrance. 
The Tzar's fists were clenched and his whole 
frame shook; his face was distorted like a 
maniac's, his eyes glared with rage. 

Repnin was confounded; he thought the 
Tzar had come to beat him. Pie dared not 
stir. 

93 



Peter gasped: " Get up; I wish to speak to 
you." 

Then he informed him of his terrible 
discovery. 

"I must have vengeance, a terrible vengeance; 
I will murder the Tzarina." 

For a while Repnin stood helpless and 
speechless in presence of the Tzar's wrath. 
After a while, however, he sought to soothe 
him. He agreed that no punishment was great 
enough for Catherine's fault, but begged him 
to bear in mind that he could not deal with 
the Tzarina as with an ordinary woman; re- 
minded him of the streltzi's bath of blood, of 
the cruel executions that since that year had 
stained the land, of the imprisonment of his 
half sister Sophia, of the Tzarina Eudoxia, and 
of the death of Alexis, which had excited 
malicious comments abroad. If now he were 
to repudiate or execute a second wife, his great 
deeds would be forgotten and the only name 
by wdiich he would be known, would be that of 
a bloodthirsty tyrant. 

At first Peter glowered threateningly at the 
bold speaker, but as Repnin, unabashed, pro- 
ceeded to sum up his remarks, the Tzar sank 
down, crushed and trembling. 

For a long time he sat motionless at the 
Prince's bedside. 



Then he rose, went to his chamber without 
a word, and w^alked to and fro. He decided at 
last to follow the counsels of Repnin. He 
would make a show of s]3aring Catharine, but 
the brother and sister Mons must perish. 

The sentence of the latter was executed the 
next day. She was knouted and exiled to 
Siberia, whence she seems never to have re- 
turned, although Catharine, through whom 
this misfortune had befallen her, two months 
after ascended the throne. 

Mons was arrested under a charge of " having 
embezzled money belonging to the Empress," * 
and taken to the house of Uschakoff, the Presi- 
dent of the Secret Chancellery, and, after being 
kept there two days without food, was brought 
before the highest court, which held its sittings 
in the Winter Palace, and very shortly after 
beheaded. 

In order so far as possible to exculpate 
Catharine, Mons gave out that he had seduced 
her by charms and philters. 

■" Professor Bruckner, who passes over this cveut which 
he says rests upon unverified probabilities, with a few 
lines (Peter cler Grosse, Seite 564, Anmerkung 5), ex- 
presses his opinion that " there is no doubt that Mons 
was guilty of dishonesty and bribery." Compare also 
Ssolowjeff, XVIIl., 245. Kostomaroff (in the Russian 
periodical " Old and New Russia," 1877, 1, 149) attempts 
to set forth the improbability of Catharine's infidelity. 

04 



Mons was a Lutheran, and on being carried 
to the scaffold he requested to be allowed to 
see a minister of that ftiith. He covertly jDlaced 
in his hands a watch which contained his name 
and that of the Empress in a monogram. It 
was a present from Catharine. 

On the scaffold he bethought him of still 
another memento of Catharine which he car- 
ried about him and of which the discovery 
might lead to unfortunate consequences. He 
bent over and whispered in the executioner's 
ear. Everyone supposed he was asking for a 
speedy death. 

" In my clothing you will find a picture set 
with costly diamonds. Keep the diamonis and 
destroy the picture." The sentence was then 
executed. 

The executioner complied with the request 
to destroy the picture of the Empress. 

After the execution of Mons, which Catha- 
rine was required by the Tzar to witness, the 
imperial pair returned to the palace. The 
Empress, to all appearance calm and indiffer- 
ent, retired to her room. The Emperor entered 
with violence and with an air so terrible that 
Catharine thought her last hour had struck. 
Peter was deathly pale. He jerked his hunt- 
ing knife out of its sheath and rushed toward 

95 



his wife, who staggered backward, and the 
Tzar's wrath fell upon tlie furniture, the tables, 
chairs and window. This lasted a half-hour, 
after which he rushed out of the room. 

The next morning he approached the Em- 
press calmly and desired her to drive with him. 
He himself held the reins. All of a sudden 
they found themselves confronting the head 
and body of the executed man, which were 
placed upon poles. The Tzar drove so close to 
them that Catharine's gown grazed the corpse. 

After he had continued this cruelty for some 
time without causing any emotion in the Em- 
press, he turned back. 

That same evening he brought the head of 
Mons to the Empress, aiid forced her to have 
it before her eyes for several days. He then 
presented it to the Academy of Sciences to be 
preserved with the head of Miss Hamilton. 

Sixty years after, the Princess Dashkoff, the 
"President" of the Acadeni}^ of Sciences 
remarked that, on looking through the accounts 
of the institution she observed that there had 
been made every year an entry for spirits " for 
two heads in the cellar." She searched, and 
found the heads of Miss Hamilton and Mons, 
which were so well preserved that one could 
not but be struck with their extraordinary 

96 



beauty. By an order of the then Empress, 
Catharine II., the two heads were interred in 
the cellar. 

After this terrible event Peter never again 
spoke to Catharine. He separated from her, 
and every effort to soften him proved vain. 
The Princess Kantemir succeeded her in the 
Tzar's favor. Mentschikoff, also, suffered from 
tb.e disgrace into which Catharine had fjillen, 
as Peter accused him of having an understand- 
ing with her. Their fate hung in the balance, 
for the Tzar threatened to cast them both back 
into the dust out of which he had lifted them 
so high. But at this time Peter the Great fell 
ill, and Catharine and Mentschikoff took care 
that he did not recover. On the 28th of Jan- 
uary, 1725, the greatest of Russian rulers died, 
and the slave-born Martha ascended the throne 
of the Romanoffs as Catharine I. It was known 
that Peter before his death had intended to 
exclude her from the succession, but the Em- 
press bribed the famous metropolitan, Theo- 
phanes, to swear in front of the army that 
Peter had said to him on his death-bed ; 
" Catharine alone is worthy to reign." And 
the Russian people, always good-natured, suf- 
fered themselves to be persuaded and bowed 
their heads meekly. 

97 



Catharine now reigned in her own riglit, and 
needed not to consider any man. She gave 
free reign to her passionate nature, and not 
only maintained open relations with Mentschi- 
koff but with other lovers, among whom may 
be specially mentioned the Counts Sapieha and 
Riven voldern. Sapieha was young and hand- 
some, and for a time she was devoted to 
him. When she grew tired of him she mar- 
ried him to her niece, the Countess Skavron- 
ska. Rivenvoldern preserved her favor longer 
than Sapieha — he preserved it during eight 
wdiole months. 

The reign of Catharine was short and was 
nominal only. It was Mentschikoff wdio reigned. 

She was about to rouse herself and shake off 
his yoke when she fell ill and died in a few 
days. According to some historians, Catharine 
died of consumption and dropsy, induced by 
drink. According to others, hers was not a 
natural death. She was accustomed to receive 
presents of bonbons from gentlemen of her 
court, and one day Mentschikoff, it is said, had 
the politeness to present her with some very 
choice confections . . 



98 



THE MARRIAGE AND THE LOVE AF- 
FAIR OF THE TZAREVITCH ALEXIS. 



The Tzarevitch Alexis, the Sou of Eudoxia. — His Neg- 
lected Education. — His Marriage to a Princess of 
Brunswick. — His Harshness to His Wife and His 
Love for a Finland Serf. 



FROM his earliest childhood the Tzare,, 
vitch Alexis had kDown nothing Ijut mis- 
fortune. He was only eight years old when 
his mother, Eudoxia Lopuchina, Peter the 
Great's first wife, was cruelly cast off. He: 
disgrace had an unfavorable effect upon the 
relations to each other of father and son. The 
little Alexis aroused no very affectionate feel- 
ings in the breast of Peter, who willing to 
banish disagreeable memories suffered the 
heir to the throne in his presence as little as 
possible. 

Is it to be wondered at if he, on his j^art, 
found in his heart little love for his father, 

99 



only grief for the loss of bis mother and for 
her ill treatment, or that the feeling grew into 
a deep-rooted thirst for vengeance ? 

When the Prince reached his tenth year 
Peter awakened to the idea that the successor 
to the throne, the heir of a great and powerful 
empire, should be provided with an education, 
and a German baron named Pluyssen was ap- 
pointed tutor and governor to the Tzarevitch, 
with Mentschikoff as his supervisor. The con- 
sequence was that whatever benefit Huyssen 
sought to confer, Mentschikoff endeavored to 
counteract. The Prince, therefore, made little 
progress, while his character was vreakened and 
misshapen. And yet he was not without parts.* 

* "Alexis," so wrote Barou Huyssen, " is a Prince 
whose mind is capable of grasping anything. He de- 
votes three hours a day to his studies. He has already 
read the Bible through six times in Slavonic and once in 
German, and all the Greek fathers, besides going rapidly 
through other books, religious and secular, which have 
been published in Moscow, Kiev and Wallachia. He 
writes and speaks German and French well. Every day 
he learns something by heart, studies intelligently the 
lives of emperors and kings, and wishes to emulate their 
great deeds. Mathematics and bodily exercises have 
not been overlooked. Briefly, Alexis is a gentleman 
who fears God, has a child's resi^ect and obedience for 
his father, a particular consideration for home and for- 
eign ministers and a thoughtful affection for his servants 
and subjects." 

100 



Alexis had a special bias toward theological 
studies. His copy of theological works was 
filled with commentaries iu his own hand- 
writing. He shrank from worldly affairs, and 
as far as possible shunned the amusements of 
the Court. If compelled to be present he took 
no part in conversations relating to war and 
politics, but escaping with some priests into a 
corner discussed subjects relating to the church. 

Baron Huyssen endeavored to counteract this 
pernicious narrowness of mind, but vainly, for 
Mentschikoflf opposed his efforts and took pains 
to have Alexis kept in ignorance of affairs of 
state. When Huyssen attempted to stand upon 
his rights as governor and tutor, Mentschikoff 
got rid of the troublesome professor by de- 
spatching him on a mission from the Court. 

Mentschikoff had now the game in his own 
hands, and his well-known ignorance of read- 
ing and writing did not prevent him from as- 
suming the whole charge of the Prince's edu- 
cation. This education consisted in a careful 
suppression of any interest which the Prince 
might exhibit in affairs of state. He per- 
mitted him freely to follow his theological bent, 
and allowed him the fullest opportunity for the 
indulgence of his sensual passions, this being 
the surest road to ruin. Alexis made the best 

101 



use of his opportunities. He was not only the 
most devout ; he was also the most dissolute 
young man of his time. 

Mentschikoff 's severe discipline, which did 
not hesitate to show itself in action, was not 
fitted to strengthen or improve the character of 
the Tzarevitch. The least failure in submission 
to his cruel tutor was punished with severity. 
The boy's soul was consumed with helpless 
rage at seeing himself compelled to endure 
such opjjression at the hands of the upstart who 
had brought about the ruin of his mother. If 
he dared to fly to his father for rescue, the Tzar 
roughly repulsed him ; he " had no time," — for 
Peter had time only for his wars, his world- 
stirring innovations, his amours ; he had no 
time for his son. 

And after such an attempt to obtain justice 
and protection, Alexis had reason to dread the 
worst from Mentschikoff. 

Thus year after year passed, and thus Alexis 
grew up, more wretched than the poorest peas- 
ant's son. The Prince was yet but a boy when 
the star of the slave girl, who, under Mentschi- 
koff 's protection sped on her marvellous career 
with dizzy speed, appeared on the horizon. Her 
hifluence was not long in being felt at Court, 
and with such protection as the powerful fav- 

102 



orite now enjoyed in his protegee, his conduct 
to the Tzarevitch grew more than ever haughty 
and overbearing. And when at last the incred- 
ible happened, and the low-born girl ascended 
the throne of Russia, and the probability 
increased of the birth of a prince to Peter by 
his new marriage — a prince more worthy in 
their eyes — then, indeed, all was lost. 

The marriage of Peter to his paramour 
Catharine, at whose baptism Alexis had been 
forced to act as godfather, inflicted a cruel 
wound of which the nobles and clergy availed 
themselves to whisper temptation in his ear. 
They detested Peter and the innovations by 
which they had been shorn of their power. All 
their hopes, therefore, were centered upon 
Alexis, whom they strove to win to their cause. 
They held up before him the dangers to him- 
self from Catharine's elevation, represented to 
him that the Tzar desired only his destruction, 
and that the destiny that awaited him was to be 
repudiated like his mother. 

Then Alexis saw that his youth, his happi- 
ness, his life were destroyed. And he w^ould 
not perish, he would not be destroyed. Pie 
listened to the whisperers for he knew they 
whispered the truth, and turnmg his back on 
the father who had neglected, imbittered and 



lot 



destroyed him, he threw himself into the hands 
of the Tzar's enemies. And Mentschikoff ex- 
uhed, for all this was not concealed from him. 
He exulted that the hated Tzarevitch should 
dig his own grave, and hastened to denounce 
and expose him to the Tzar. 

Peter was startled. He perceived the abyss 
that yawned at his feet. He realized his fault 
and that he had himself plunged his only son 
and the heir to the throne into ruin, and had 
made him a traitor to his father and sovereign. 

Remorse took possession of him ; he w^ould 
fain at last have atoned for the errors of which 
he had been guilty. He summoned his son, 
exj^ostulated with him, warned him, pointed 
out the wrong he was committing and its fatal 
consequences. He kept him near him, exerted 
himself to reform him, but — it was too late. 
Alexis was obdurate, and even though the Tzar 
placed for a time the government in his hands 
he continued unmoved, and availed himself of 
the opportunity to serve and benefit his friends 
and his father's enemies. 

Grief and rage took possession of the Tzar, 
but conscious how greatly he was to blame for 
the disloyalty of Alexis, he refrained from in- 
flicting upon him severe punishment. As a 
last exjDedient for reclaiming the prince he re- 

104 



solved to marry him to a foreign princess, to 
send him abroad for a time to learn foreign 
habits and customs, and thereby to enlighten 
his mind, change his feelings and strengthen 
his character. 

The Tzar's choice fell upon the beautiful 
Princess Charlotte of Brunswick. The Tzarevitch 
made no opposition to the project. Attached 
though he perhaps was to the custom of his 
forefathers of taking a Russian bride, he hoped 
through his marriage with a foreign princess to 
win back his father's favor and secure the suc- 
cession to the throne. 

The Princess Charlotte was the second 
daughter of Anton Ulrich, and the youngest 
sister of the wife of the Emperor Charles VI. 
She was beautiful in person and possessed 
every mental gift that could permanently at- 
tach the heart of a man. It was Baron Huyssen 
who brought about the marriage, and he also 
obtained permission for the princess to ad- 
here to the Lutheran faith. 

On the 14-25 of October, 1711, the marriage 
was celebrated at Taugau with great magnifi- 
cence. * 

*A medal representing the marriage of the Tzarevitch 
and the Princess shows a bust likeness of the pair with 
the inscription Alex. Petr. Imp. Euss. Haer. et Carol. 

105 



Peter's plan seemed at first to promise suc- 
cess, but it proved delusive. Scarcely had Al- 
exis returned to Russia than every good result 
of the marriage disapiDcared and the old pas- 
sions regained the mastery. Princess Charlotte 
clung to him tenderly and tried with love and 

Christ. Soph. Pr. Bruns. et Lun. R. An altar with a /ire 
burning on it and two coats of arms, the Russian Eagle 
and the horse of the house of Brunswick. On the altar 
two joined hands with the inscription : Non usquam 
junxit nobiliora fides. On the rim: Obnvipt. Torgau 
celebrat. XXV. Oct. MDCCXI. 

The Helmstadt Professor JohanGeorgEckhard proved 
on the occasion of this marriage that the bridal pair were 
both of them descended from the Greek Emperor Con- 
stantine. "Heaven itself," observed this learned Pro- 
fessor, " seemed to sanctioii the project of marriage and 
to guide the feet of the white dove, which, lighting on to 
the castle of "Wolfenblittel and sitting upon the globe of 
the earth which stood there, pointed thoughtfully with 
its feet to the Atlantic Ocean and Muscovite Tartary, 
just as the parents of the aflBanced Princess were 
taking counsel together on the destiny of their illustrious 
house." 

Adverting to this pretty conceit Anton Ulrich, the 
father of the bride, said : " This event could furnish the 
material for a history." The philosopher Leibnitz made 
the following epigram upon it : 

Augurium columbae. 

Blankenburgiaci museo in Principis, Orbem 

Signat olivifero laeta columba pede. 

Hinc Scythiae in campis, illiuc Atlantis in undis. 

Scilicet et Natas utraque regna colent. 

(Leibnitii Literae ed. Chr. Kortholt, I, 286.) 

106 



goodness to work upon him, but she could ob- 
taiTi no influence ; nor did Alexis, even after she 
had become a mother, cease to be insensible, 
hard and repellant. 

Peter, who held his noble daughter-in-law in 
high esteem, was exasperated by the conduct 
of Alexis, but his rej)roaches only provoked 
his son's opposition. He abandoned his 
wife and gave himself up to the wildest ex- 
cesses. And Peter dared not reproach him, for 
the son could with justice appeal to the fa- 
ther's example. Following in the footsteps of 
the Tzar, Alexis fell madly in love with a 
peasant girl of Finland, wdiose career howev- 
er as compared with that of Catherine was 
blameless. Her name was Euphrosyne, and 
she was beautiful. She accompanied him upon 
his flight into Germany, was arrested and 
brought back to Russia, appeared before the 
Tzar, and was pardoned by him upon her jd rov- 
ing to him that she had not sought to entrap 
Alexis but had been forced by threats of per- 
sonal violence to live with him. Peter made 
her valuable presents, and promised her a 
handsome portion if she would marry. But 
she answ^ered, "I was constrained to a first love, 
I will never of my free will belong to another 
man." 

107 



The wife of Alexis was inconsolable over 
this event. She died heart-broken on the 20th 
of October, 1715, shortly after having given 
birth to a son, Peter, the future Emperor. 

The love of Alexis for the peasant girl Eu- 
phrosyne, cost the Princess her life, and was 
also one of the causes which led to the death 
of the Tzarevitch. 

The death of the Princess and the circum- 
stance that a few days after, Catharine was de- 
livered of a son, who received the name of Pe- 
ter, induced the Tzar to cast off his heir, and 
the last link between father and son, between 
Emperor and Crown Prince, was severed. The 
only wonder is that the insupportable relations 
between them had lasted two years. 

On the 3d of February, 1718, the Tzar is- 
sued a manifesto in which he declared Alexis 
to have forfeited his right to the succession 
and set forth the incurable perverseness of his 
character. He was brought to trial and deliv- 
ered to a violent death. 

The manifesto in which Peter gave notice to 
his subjects of the dispossession, of the heir to the 
throne, is an interesting document. In it the 
Tzar describes the conduct of his son from his 
earliest years. He refers to the impossibility 
of imparting to him an education, and complains 

108 



of his association with evil men from whom 
neither indulgence nor severity had been able 
to detach him. " To teach him the art of 
war," he continues, •'! have had him accom- 
pany me on my campaigns, protecting him 
from dangers to which I did not hesitate to ex- 
pose myself To instruct him in the art of 
government I have intrusted him with the re- 
gency. To arouse him to emulation I have 
sent him into foreign lands ; but all my efforts 
have been as seed falling upon a rock. Not 
only has he refused to love the good, he has 
hated it. He married a Princess of his own 
choice, intelligent, gifted, and virtuous, but far 
from reforming, he violated his marriage vows 
for the sake of a woman of low birth with 
whom he openly lived, and by so doing has 
shortened the life of his wife. Lastly, by his 
flight, he has filled up the measure of his 
crimes. He has placed himself, under the pro- 
tection of the Emperor Charles, and with slan- 
derous charges that I persecute liim and with- 
out cause have excluded him from the succes- 
sion, and that his life is not safe near me, he has 
requested armed protection for his person. He 
has refused to return, and was finally induced 
to do so only by the fear of being delivered up 
against his will. He has himself acknowledg- 

109 



od his guilt. He lias well deserved deatli. But 
paternal affection has compassion on him. I 
pardon his crime and release him from all pun- 
ishment therefor. But to permit this unwor- 
thy Prince to succeed me is against my con- 
science, for I foresee that by his pernicious 
conduct he Avill destroy the glory of the nation, 
will lose the provinces which I have won by 
my unwearied efforts, and by the grace of God 
have made secure, will break up the scientific 
institutions which I have with pains establish- 
ed for the fame and welfare of the Empire. 
My subjects would be objects of pity did I 
abandon them to such a successor, to be thrown 
backward into a condition worse than the pre- 
vious one. Therefore, for the welfare of my 
Empire and exercising the paternal authority 
which by the laws of the country every pri- 
vate citizen possesses of disinheriting his son, 
as well as by my sovereign will, I declare my 
son Alexis, both by reason of his crime and 
by his unworthiness to reign, to have forfeited 
his rights as heir to the throne, even the case 
arising that I should have no other offspring. 
And as I have no son who is more advanced 
in years, I declare my second son Peter, not- 
withstanding his youth the heir to the throne. 
My paternal curse will rest upon Alexis if he 

110 



should ever claim or seek to succeed me. My 
subjects of every degree shall, according to 
this my ordinance, respect the rights of my 
son Peter to the succession, and any person 
who at a future day, shall recognize Alexis as 
my heir, and shall lend him aid to seize the 
reins of this Empire, I declare a traitor to my- 
self and to his country." (See Reports of the 
trials of the Tzarvitch Alexis. 1718. — A. 
Bruckner. Alexis. Heidelberg, 1880.) 

With regard to the manner of the Tzare- 
vitch's death every variety of report has been cur- 
rent. Ustrjalof takes the view that he died in 
consequence of knouting, asserting that he was 
given forty strokes of the knout, one of which 
would have been sufficient to cause death. 
Pleyer (see Ustrjalof vi, 541-545), speaks of the 
Prince as having been beheaded. This tradi- 
tion has remained the strongest, though with 
very varying details. Generally, Adam Weide 
and Anna Kramer have been made to perform 
a part in it. Compare Busching IX preface. 
Dolgaruckow I, 10. Helbig 69 and 71. De 
Bie wrote to the States General that Alexis 
had been killed by the opening of a vein. (Us- 
trjalof VI, 549-569). Lefort, the Saxon Min- 
ister maintained that Peter himself knouted 
his son to death. Bruce and another writer, 

111 



von RumjantzofF, talk of poison. The poison- 
ing of the heir to the throne is also spoken of 
in "A Select Collection" II, 123. Compare 
also, "The Tzarevitch Alexis Petrovitch," from 
newly discovered sources, in the journal of the 
Russian Historical society, 1861, III. Duclos, 
Pieces Interessantes et Pen Connues, 130. Bulau 
"Geheime Geschichten und ratselhafte Mens- 
chen," Leipsig, Brockhaus, 1863, Vol. IV, 161- 
184 



112 



THE CHILDREN OF PETER THE GREAT 
AND CATHARINE THE FIRST. 



Domestic life of the imperial pair. — Correspondence. — 
Peter Petrovitch, heir to the throne after the death 
of Alexis. — His tragic end. — The Princess Anna. — 
A melodramatic love story. 



CATHARINE bore the Tzar seven children: 
Prince Peter, Princess Anna, who as 
the Duchess of Holstein became the mother of 
Peter III, Princess Elizabeth afterwards Em- 
press of Russia, three other daughters and a 
son who died young. 

As a family they lived together not unamia- 
bly. The letters of Peter to Catharine bear 
witness to this. Catherine could only answer 
them however, by the aid of her children and 
the ladies of her court* In Peter's letters a 

*This correspondence was first published by the 
"Commission to Edit the State Papers and Treaties in 
the Archives of the ministry of Foreign Relations at 

113 



jocular tone prevails. Here and there, howev- 
er, very serious matters are touched upon, in 
which Catharine shows no lack of interest ; 
the cares of business, the dangers likely 
to arise out of j3olitical developments, the 
high stake played for in the Northern war. 
He sighs over the burden of his responsibili- 
ties, and in 1712 writes : "Thank God we are 
safe, but it is a hard life. I can do little with 
my left hand and my right must wield both 
pen and sword. How much help I get,- you 
know full well." 

The Tzarina understood, and sought to en- 
liven him. She never let pass an opportunity 
to do so. Upon every anniversary of the least 
of his victories, she congratulated him. She 
followed with the most intense interest the 
vicisitudes of his campaigns, even taking note of 
their details, and made arrangements for appro- 
Moscow," as Part I of the "Letters of Russian Rulers 
and tlie Members of their Families," Moscow, 1861, page 
160. The volume contains 223 letters, 173 of Peter's and 
50 of Catharine's, 1707-1724. A full narrative, more 
systematic and clearer than the original edition, is the 
"Historical Almanac," published by A. Bruckner in 
Raumer-Riehl, 1880, 173-239. Compare also: Bruckner, 
Peter der Grosse, Berliu, 1879, 568. Collection of Let- 
ters of Peter the First, Petersburg, 1829. Letters and 
documents of Peter the Great, Petersburg, 1887-1889. 
The Avorks of Golikof, Ustrjalof and Ssolowjef. 

114 



priate celebrations of his victories in tlie city 
and Empire. She was also fully alive to the 
significance of Peter's darling creation, his 
fleet, rejoiced in the increase of his squadrons, 
watched the progress of the ship-building and 
herself presided over the trials. She never 
forgot to make flattering observations to the 
Tzar, and by these methods was able to keep 
his aftection for her ever warm. 

Peter wrote often to the Tzarina, and always 
when in movement, if only a few lines as a 
sign of life. The letters are valuable and in- 
teresting. When he wrote to her to come to 
him, he gave the most minute directions and 
begged her to beware of unnecessarily fatigu- 
ing herself. 

Until the year 1712 the letters were address- 
ed "To Katharina Alexejewna," after she was 
officially proclaimed the wife of the Emperor 
"To the Gossudarynja Zarin Katharina Alexe- 
jewna." Letters from foreign countries usu- 
ally bore only the address: " a sa Majeste la 
Czarinne." His manner of addressing herself 
is also chronological. From 1707 to 1709 he 
calls her Matka, mother. From 1711 the let- 
ters begin "mother, good morning," or "Mu- 
der," in Russian characters ; or "Katharinus- 
chka, my friend, I salute you, friend of my 
heart." 

115 



The stjde of Catharine's address in her let- 
ters to the Tzar is more reverentiaL She be- 
gins, "Your Grace," or "Your Majesty," but 
as her letters progress she grows warmer : 'O'ly 
little father," "my heart's friend," "my friend," 
"my Lord Vice Admiral, I hope you are well, 
many years to you," and once the somewhat 
mystical, "Most Illustrious, Distinguished Au- 
gust Prince, Master and Knight of the Grand 
Circles, and of Life and Death, Excellency." 

In his letters to Catharine Peter appears 
only as a good-natured, smooth-tongued lover. 
Once in 1808 he says, "I hope, mother, to see 
you soon, it is dull and gloomy without you. 
There is no one here to look after my wash- 
ing." From Wolgast, on the 14th of August, 
1712 : "I arrived here to-day with the fleet, 
and hope soon to be with you ; I long greatly 
to see you and I believe you are still more im- 
patient, but it must be endured a little longer, 
then our meeting will be all the more joyful." 
And in 1716 : "Without you it is far too 
dreary, that you know full well ; to be at so 
short a distance and not to see each other." 
He begs her "for God's sake" to write to him 
oftener. With his letters he sent her little 
presents, stuff for her gowns, lemons, a watch 
"after the newest fashion, with a glass to keep 

116 



the dust from penetrating," oysters, Hungarian 
wine from Poltawa ; in Belgium he bouglit lier 
the most beautiful lace, "more beautiful than 
can be found anywhere else in Europe ;" upon 
having his hair cut at Revel he sent her the 
cut off hair. Once he sent her a fox and a 
pair of doves, at another time strawberries and 
cherries, beer, oranges and cucumbers. 

She answered these presents generally with 
drinks, especially brandy, also fruits and nuts, 
once a barrel of herring, at another time in 
1717 a waistcoat to Spaa, the first worn by Pe- 
ter. To Paris a flask of Hungarian wine with 
the remark : "Were I with Your Majesty we 
should, I think, not need so much Hungarian 
wine." In 1717 Peter wrote to her: "I thank 
you for your present and send one to you ; 
very appropriate presents on both sides. You 
send me that wherewith to sustain my old age, 
I send you something with which to adorn 
your youth." In reply she scolded him round- 
ly for calling himself "an old fellow" and of- 
fered to produce witnesses to the falsity of such 
an assertion. In the letters much mention is 
made of "Iwaschka Chmelnizky," the Russian 
name for Bacchus. The Tzar tells of his ad- 
ventures with this jolly companion, and Cath- 
arine entering into the humor, writes : "The 

117 



Frenchman who is arranging a new garden 
was passing along a ditch when Iwaschka 
Chmelnizky gave him a lunge and sent him to 
make flower beds in another world." 

Peter very rarely alludes to his impressions 
of foreign countries. He wrote from Carlsbad in 
1711 : "Here we are, thank God, quite well, 
somewhat inflated with much drinking. They 
water us like horses, there is nothing else here 
to do." There is no lack of bold jests, some- 
times frivolous, sometimes cynical. In 1709 
she warned him against love adventures, and 
he answered, "we are old people, and not such 
— ." She attaches no importance to his "little 
love aftairs" if he continues true to her. 

For Catharine's children also, Peter evinces a 
warmth of sympathy and affection in strong 
contrast with his conduct to Alexis; In this 
correspondence the name of Alexis is scarcely 
mentioned. In 1711 Peter writes from Tor- 
gau of the betrothal of the Tzarevitch to the 
Princess AVolfenbiittel, and adds : "I congrat- 
ulate you on your new daughter-in-laAV." In 
1714 the Tzarina remarks that a letter has 
been received from Alexis which she encloses. 
That is all. After the catastrophe of 1718, 
however, mention is sometimes made of the 
children of Alexis. In a letter of October 

118 



1718, Peter says that the birthday of his three 
year old grandson must be celebrated with a 
"collation." On one occasion Catharine men- 
tions that she and the children "and grand- 
children" are well. 

The birthdays and christening days of the 
children were never forgotten. Peter listened 
with pleasure to Catharine's accounts of them, 
their sayings and doings. When they were ill 
the Tzar showed the utmost concern. His pet 
expression for them is singular enough. "Kiss 
my entrails for me," he often says. And later 
he wrote to wife and children together. "Kath- 
arinuschka, my heart's friend, I salute both 
you and the entrails." To his two oldest 
daughters he gushes on this wise : "Annuschka 
and Lisenka, I salute you. Thank you for 
your letters. God be with you." Sometimes 
he jestingly calls his daughters "suckers."* 

*In 1771 the German Ambassador Bergholz came to 
Petersburg, and he has thus described the Empress and 
her family : 

It was in the broad central garden walk that we saw 
the Empress in the neighborhood of a pretty fountain, 
very splendidly dressed. The eldest Princess, Anna, 
first drew my attention. She is a brunette as pretty as 
an angel, has the prettiest complexion, hands and figure 
in the world. She resembles the Tzar very much and is 
already tall for a woman. On the Tzarina's left was the 
second princess. Elizabeth, who has blonde hair, a pretty 

119 



The favorite of the parents was httle Prince 
Peter Petrovitcli. His birth had tlirown the 
Tzar into a transjDort of dehght. It happened 
at the time when his rehitions witli xVlexis 
were at tlieir worst. Tlie Tzar now saw liis 
tlirone and the succession no longer dependent 
upon one pair of eyes, those of the refractory 
Alexis. He had now a son whom he could train 

complexion, and a face as charming as lier elder sister's, 
with much greater animation and vivacity. She is al- 
most two years younger and is much smaller, but her 
throat and bust are fuller, those of the elder being quite 
thin, and dresses more girlishly, although both wore 
gowns laced in the back which were exceedingly well 
made. Their hair was ornamented with a number of 
jewels and arranged according to the latest French fash- 
ion, and as well as if they had the best French coiffuese. 
The little Grand Duke Peter Alexejvitch and his sister 
Natalia, the children of the late Princess of Wolfenbut- 
tel and the late Crown Prince, stood near the Empress, 
and I must say these two children looked as they were 
moulded in wax, and were as pretty as angels. The 
Prince is six years old and well grown for his years, the 
Princess is nearly eight and is not small for her age. 
These two have their own table apart, and the two Prin- 
cesses have theirs. The little four year old daughter of 
the Empress is carried in the arms, and is a remarkably 
pretty child. The old Tzarina (widow of the late Tzar 
Ivan), with her daughter, four years old, a brunette and 
not ill looking, was also there. Among the other ladies 
whom I saw, the Princess Tschirkassin was the one who 
pleased me most ; she is considered the greatest beauty 
in this country. There were besides about thirty other 

120 



after his heart. In a letter to ScheremetjefFhc 
wrote exultingly. "God has given me and the 
army a recruit upon whom we may congratu- 
late ourselves." 

It is related that on the night of the Prince's 
birth, the Emperor sent his adjutant general to 
the fort to give notice of the event by the fir- 
ing of guns. The soldier on guard refused ad- 
mittance to the adjutant, as after the tattoo no 

ladies, many of them are not behind our ladies in grace- 
ful and polished manners. I confess that I had not ex- 
pected to find so complete and agreeable a court. The 
Empress has four grooms of the chamber, all handsome 
young gentlemen, two Russians and two Germans ; the 
names of the Russians are Chapellof and Scheskin, and 
of the German Balk and Mons. The latter stands high 
in her favor. There are various others composing the 
household of the Empress, such as a steward, a master of 
the horse, and so forth. The pages wore green with red 
trimmings and gilt lace, which is also worn by the trum- 
peters and buglers. The lackeys and grooms of the 
stable, of whom there are a large number, wear no lace, 
but dress handsomely. The chapel is furnished with a 
number of German musicians who wear a handsome 
green uniform, although it is not usual for musicians to 
be dressed in livery. In a word I have found the Tzar- 
ina's court as complete and as pleasing as almost any 
court in Germany. That of the Tzar, however, is 
Avretched. It consists almost entirely of a few dent- 
schsky or inferior servants, most of whom are low-born. 
Nevertheless they have a good deal to say. — Journal of 
Bergholz in Busching's Magazine: XIX- XXII. In Rus- 
sian published by Ammon, Moscow, 1863. 

131 



one must presume to enter the fort. Then the 
Tzar himself went and was no less positively 
denied admittance. "But, fellow," exclaimed 
the Tzar, "the Empress has given birth to a 
Prince." 

"A Prince!" shouted the soldier. "Come in, 
if they shoot me dead to-morrow." 

On the 17th of November, 1715, the great 
celebration of the baptism took place. At table 
there was an original entertainment. Two 
large pasties were brought in, one for the ladies 
and one for the gentlemen. Out of the first 
when cut, a male dwarf arose, out of the sec- 
ond, a female. Both made a pretty discourse, 
drank to the health of the Tzar, the Tzarina, 
the new-born Prince, and the guests, and then 
danced a comical dance on the table. 

The little Schischetka, which was the pet 
name of the Prince, was cared for with the ut- 
most solicitude. Their affection for him often 
appears in the letters of the Tzar and Tzarina. 
In the summer of 1718 the Tzarina writes: 
"Our dear Schischetka speaks often of his dear 
papa;" and a few weeks later : "Our dear Schis- 
chetka has by the help of God developed every 
day, and takes the greatest delight in military 
exercises and guns." She speaks also of his 
great dissatisfaction at the Tzar's absence. "I 

123 



beg you to take me under your protection, I 
have the most terrible battles with hiui if I 
tell him you have gone aAvay. That is some- 
thing he will not tolerate. But if any one tells 
him papa is here, he is happy." AVhen the 
first teeth appeared, the father was delighted 
with the news. 

After Alexis was put out of the way Peter 
Petrovitch was announced as the Tzarevitch. 
His glory, however, was short lived. The year 
following the death of Alexis, on the 25th of 
April 1719, the same year in which the Tzar 
lost Count Scheremetjetf, one of his best gen- 
erals, and the discoverer of Catharine, his hope 
and joy was struck down as by lightning. 

Peter's grief was as unbounded as had been 
his delight in his son. For days and nights 
he remained shut up, neither eating nor drink- 
ing and seeing no one. Even the Tzarina 
dared not intrude upon the disconsolate father. 

Gloom and silence reigned at the Court and 
in the capital ; the news of Peter's despair and 
indifference to all but his grief spread in 
all directions. The enemies of his innovations 
bestirred themselves believing their hour was 
come. Catharine, informed of the danger, 
called upon the Senate Vvith Dolgorucky at its 
head to come to the Tzar., 

123 



Then Dolgorucky, who often succeeded in 
vanquishing the Tzar's obstinacy, said : 

" Does your Majesty wish the Russians to 
choose for themselves another ruler ? The Em- 
pire is falling into confusion, business is para- 
lyzed, the vanc^uished enemy lifts up his head. 
Can you see all your work overthrown?" 

The Tzar heeded the admonition and re- 
turned to life and activity. But he did not 
abandon his grief, which he carried with him 
to the end of his days. The son for whose 
sake he had offered up Alexis, i'ate, as if in 
scorn, as if in vengeance, had suddenly torn 
from him. Who now should carry on the work 
he had begun ? 

Peter's favorite was his daughter Anna, who 
very much resembled him. Some one has 
given this descrij)tion of her : " Peter's large 
features are imprinted upon her face, Peter's 
soul shines out from her eyes, only nature and 
education have beautified both. Her form, 
slender and well proportioned, causes her un- 
common height to be overlooked, and her 
height enhances the majesty of her ap2:)earance. 
But one does not recognize in her smile the 
soft womanliness of the Graces." 

Peter was dihgent in educating his daughter 
Anna in the art of government, believing that 

124 



after his and Catharine's death she would be 
called to the throne. She had more intelli- 
gence, character and culture than any Russian 
princess of her day. Besides Russian she un- 
derstood French, German, Italian and Swedish. 
She })ossessed intrepidity and presence of mind, 
and was — wonderful to relate — moral in the 
midst of the unrestrained viciousness of her 
times. It was a period when any one might 
venture to approach even persons occupying 
the highest position with the baldest proposi- 
tions of love, and we find nothing to wonder at 
in the story of Count Apraxyn who, infatuated 
with Anna's beauty threw himself at her feet, 
and presenting her his sword, exclaimed : 

" I love you. Listen to me, or end my tor- 
ment." 

I.^'he Princess took the offered sword and an- 
swered : 

" I will end it." 

The impassioned Count vanished in a twink- 
ling. 

Numerous suitors for the hand of the Prin- 
cess presented themselves. Amongst them an 
ambassador arrived with propositions* from 
Louis XIV. But Anna was already betrothed 
to the Duke of Holstein. The Duke, as regards 
outward appearance, was little suited to the 

125 



beautiful daughter of the Tzar. A contem- 
porary sent the following report . of him to 
Germany : " He is of medium height and well 
proportioned ; has thick lips and a broad 
tongue which occasions a difficulty in his 
speech. While cjuite young, he accompanied 
his cousin the King of Sweden on a Polish 
campaign in very cold weather. Seeing the 
King endure the cold with such indifference 
he was ashamed to complain, and his toes were 
frozen, in consecpence of which he lost several 
of them." 

He was, however, gifted, intelligent and 
high-minded. 

The betrothal took place in 1724 and the 
marriage shortly after Peter's death. The por- 
tion of tlie Emperor's daughter consisted, be- 
sides jewels, of 150,000 gold ducats and a yearly 
apanage. 

The marriage was of short duration, as the 
Duke died on the 15th of May, 1728. 



136 



THE BRIDES OF PETER II. 



The Princess Marie Mentschikoff. — The Veugeance of 
Eudoxia. — Mentschikoff 's Fall and Banishment. — 
The Princess Catharine Dolgorucky. — Sudden Death 
of Peter II. 



FATE had terribly avenged the crime com- 
mitted in the death of the Tzarevitch 
Alexis. After the death of Catharine I., when 
the son of Alexis ascended the throne came the 
expiation. 

Peter II. owed his elevation to the 
throne to Prince Mentschikoff — to the man 
who had accomplished the ruin of his grand- 
mother and his father. It was Mentschikoff 
who prevailed upon Catharine to make a will 
leaving the succession to the Grand Duke, still 
in his minority. 

But if Mentschikoff — Mentschikoff who was 

127 



cunning as well as cruel — advocated such a 
project, he had his own pur]30se in so doing. 

The favorite seemed to have reached the 
highest pinnacle of human grandeur. He was 
a Prince of the German Empire, the Russian 
Duke of Ingermannland, Generalissimo of the 
Imperial forces, and Prime Minister. His very 
name carried with it a magic power, his wealth 
was boundless. But all this did not suffice for 
his ambition. He wished not only to reign 
silently, but to possess in addition the outward 
attributes of majesty. 

Therefore it was that Catharine's will, made 
under pressure from Mentschikoff, provided 
not only that the little Peter Alexejevitch 
should ascend the throne at the death of the 
Tzarina, and that Mentschikoff should be 
Governor of the young Tzar and ruler of the 
Empire during his minority, but should at his 
majority also become his father-in-law. 

Mentschikoff 's daughter Empress of Russia ! 

Why not ? Had not the low-born Catharine 
attained this eminence? 

And Maria Alexandrovna, Mentschikoff 's 
pretty daughter, was brilliantly educated, and 
under the care of an excellent mother had 
grown up noble and pure amid the wild pas- 
sions of the day. . - 

138 ■ 



After the death of Catharine Peter II. 
ascended the throne, and a few days after, 
June 6, 1727, the betrothal to Maria Alexan- 
drovna took place. The marriage was to be 
celebrated with the delay only of a few months. 
The bride received the title of Imperial High- 
ness and her name was mentioned with the 
imperial family in the offices of the church. 
Fate seemed to have bestowed everything upon 
the great upstart, and to have no favor left to 
grant. 

But the fortune of ]\Ientschikoff was more 
than he was able to support, and his insolence 
knew no bounds. His enemies grew and grew 
— the envious, the malevolent and the patriots 
who wished to save the country from disaster. 
To all this, however, he paid no heed ; he 
laughed to scorn threatenings and defied 
dangers. 

But slowly, silently, surely, advanced the 
Nemesis. The house of Dolgorucky was the 
point where all the threads of the conspiracy 
against Mentschikoff centered. Young Ivan 
Dolgorucky was the friend of Peter's youth, 
and Ivan's sister Catharine was the woman 
whom he loved — for the young Tzar felt no 
inclination for his betrothed bride, iMaria 
Alexandrovna. All the blandishments and 

129 



seductions of the daughter of the man who had 
been his tormentor, who watched with jealousy 
his every step, who held him bound with heavy 
chains, were met by him with cold indifif'erence. 
He would be no longer a child. With his 
thirteen years he felt himself a man and en- 
titled to have a voice in his affairs. And 
Mentschikoff held him in bondage, dealt with 
him as he had dealt with the Tzarevitch 
Alexis. 

And there were those who whispered in the 
Tzar's ear, low, but earnestly and impressively, 
the story of the death of the Tzarevitch and 
Mentschikoff 's share in it. And if in such 
hours, when the boy was darkly Ijrooding, his 
betrothed approached him, would have stroked 
his burning cheeks or kissed his quivering lips, 
he dashed her from him angrily and sought 
the house of Ivan Dolgorucky. 

There friendship and love invited him. 

Ivan's young and beautiful sister possessed 
the heart of Peter, which his betrothed had 
w^ooed in vain. It was here that he learned 
hatred and scorn of Mentschikoff and gathered 
courage for his final resolve to revolt and shake 
off his yoke, and to wring from him his consen t 
to the recall of Eudoxia. The latter came with 
wild joy to foster in the heart of her grandson 

130 



the thirst for vengeance which had ah^eacly 
taken root there. 

Mentschikoff's hour had struck. 

A trifling fraud scarcely worthy of mention, 
of far less importance than many of which he 
had been guilty, was made the occasion of his 
fall. A sentence of terrible severity was passed 
upon him. From the summit of his power he 
and with him his whole family sunk into the 
deepest depths of misery and degradation. 

From his palace on the Neva, the most 
splendid in the capital, which ten years l)efore 
had been the scene of the most important fes- 
tivities, from his flaunting palace, Mentschikoff 
went forth to the dangers and desolation of 
Siberian exile. His hapless daughter, yester- 
day honored as an Empress, walked broken- 
hearted by the side of her grief-stricken mother 
and her despairing brother. While the father 
endured with proud courage his terrible mis- 
fortune, Maria Alexandrovna, who loved Peter 
and could not comprehend the catastrophe, 
pined, and sickened, and died, before she 
reached her destined place of banishment. 

Into Mentschikoff's place stepped young 
Ivan Dolgorucky, into Maria Alexandrovna's 
the Princess Catharine. The marriage was 
arranged to take place in a few months. The 

131 



bride received the title of Imperial Highness 
and her name was united to the imperial 
family in the church offices. But before the 
ceremony took place the young Tzar fell ill of 
the small-Dox and died suddenly. 



183 



THE EMPRESS ANNA AND BIRON. 



Anna's marriage with the Duke of Courland. — His early- 
death. — Anna's favorite, Btihreu-Biron. — Biron's 
wife. — Biron's end. 



THE first princess of tlie house of Romanoff 
who married a German prince was the 
niece of Peter the Great, Anna Ivanovna. Her 
marriage with the Duke of Courland was cele- 
brated in St. Petersburg. Russian custom re- 
quired tliat two days before the wedding two of 
the Tzar's chamberlains should go from palace 
to palace in a gala coach and invite to the cere- 
mony the home and foreign ministers and other 
persons of importance on both sides of the Neva. 
On this occasion the Tzar himself performed 
the part of grand marshal. He wore a red 
cloak trimmed with sable, a silver sword, the 
order of Saint Andrew attached to a blue rib- 
bon, a white perruque, and carried in his hand 

133 



as a token of his office a large baton bedecked 
with gay and costly ribbons. 

The wedding, like all the gieat festivities -of 
the time, was celebrated in the palace of Prince 
Mentschikoff, where a chapel had been erected 
in one of the apartments. Upon a small altar 
was placed a silver-mounted bible and near it 
a burning light, a small silver chest which 
contained the Russian Bog or '• God," and the 
two prince's coronets, which are held over the 
heads of the bride and groom during the cere- 
mony. During the repast wreaths of laurel 
were suspended over the heads of the bride, 
bridegroom and princesses. Those over the 
heads of the newly wedded pair were torn down 
the next day, while those over the heads of the 
unmarried princesses according to the require- 
ment, were left intact. 

The closing feature of the marriage consisted 
of fireworks showing the names of the bridal 
pair, and a picture representing Cupid smelting 
two hearts together in a furnace, with the Rus- 
sian inscription below : " Out of two I make 
one." 

The Duke's connubial bliss lasted just four- 
teen days. He died suddenly on his return 
journey from Courland. 

The Duchess mourned the loss of her husband 

134 



but soon found consolation in her valet, Ernst 
Johann Biihren. 

Biihren's grandfather had been, in the middle 
of the seventeenth century, groom of the 
stables to James, third duke of Courland. The 
son of the stable boy, Charles, rose to be duke's 
forester, which enabled him to educate his three 
sons, Charles, Ernst Johann and Gustav, for a 
higher station. 

Ernst Johann was born on the 12th of No- 
vember, 1690. He studied at Konigsberg and 
it is said he once made an effort to obtain the 
position of groom of the chamber to the Tzare- 
vitch Alexis but met with a rebuff on account 
of his low birth. 

He was more successful at Mitau, where in 
1720 he became groom of the chamber to the 
widowed Duchess Anna of Courland, winning 
the favor of his mistress to such a degree that 
she gave him the situation of — her late hus- 
band. 

Anna was far from beautiful. Her nose was 
of extraordinary length and her face marked 
with the smallpox. Her step was halting, and 
she waddled like a duck. Biron's face pos- 
sessed not a single attractive feature, his man- 
ners were rude and coarse, and it must have 
been the influence of his robust and powerful 



physique upon Anna's sensual nature, that gave 
him such an ascendency over her tliat to the 
end of her life she never revolted against his 
brutal despotism. She respected the external 
forms of propriety by marrying him to a Miss 
Benigen Gottliebe of Trotha or Treyden, who 
acted the part of mother to her child. 

Biihren meanwhile relinquished his name of 
Biihren for the more aristocratic sounding one 
of Biron and sought admittance among the 
nobility of Courland, but in spite of Anna's 
protection he was bluntly refused. He estab- 
lished himself with his household, in the j)alace 
of his paramour, which, as the Duchess's valet, 
he could appropriately do without disregarding 
appearances. The meals were taken together 
in Biron 's apartments. 

After the death of Peter the Second, Anna 
was called to occupy the Russian throne, but 
not without having first consented to ratify a 
constitution, and having given a promise that 
her favorite, Biron, wdiose fame had outrun the 
limits of Courland, should not be permitted to 
enter Russia. 

Both of these promises were broken. 

She was no sooner established on the throne 
than Biron was summoned to her side, and the 
whole powers of the government were entrusted 

13G 



into his hands, nothing more being heard of a 
constitution. 

Instead of deposing the faithless Empress 
and her paramour, botli people and magnates, 
as is characteristic of Hussia, bowed their heads 
low before the upstart. Biron received \he 
rank of Count, and was made knight succes- 
sively of all the highest orders of Russia. It 
was not long before foreign nations became 
aware of the new ruler of Russia, and all the 
courts of Europe hastened to do him homage. 
The Emperor Charles made him a Count of 
the Empire, and the King of Poland conferred 
upon him the order of the White Eagle. 

The distinctions lavished upon Biron at- 
tracted the attention of the French Duke de 
Biron to his powerful namesake in Russia. He 
wrote inquiring with courteously veiled irony 
whether he had the honor of being related to 
him. The Lord Biihren-Biron was shrewd 
enough to reply to this letter with silence, an- 
swering derision with disdain. He had his 
consolations. His consequence, power and 
riches increased daily, and it was not long be- 
fore he had the splendid satisfaction of succeed- 
ing to the last duke of Courland, of being 
placed at the head of the proud nobility who 
had disdainfully rejected his petition to become 

137 



one of their uumber. The satirical Duke de 
Biron — this time seriously — sent an ambassa- 
dor to his illustrious kinsman congratulating 
him upon his accession to the throne. 

Duke Biihren-Biron, like all parvenus, was 
fond of pomp and ostentation, and this was rea- 
son sufficient to cause the most lavish expendi- 
ture at the Russian Court. The memoirs and 
histories of the period are tilled with accounts 
of the prodigality of the Russian Court, which 
is described as the most magnificent in the 
world.* 

All this, however, was external merely and 
underneath there was barbarian rudeness 

* Weber, Das verilnderte Russland, 1738-1740. History 
and Deeds of the Empress Anna, St. Petersburg, 1741. 
Schmidt-Phiseldeck, Hermaa, Leipzig, 1780. G. A. W. 
von Helbig, Russisch Giiustlinge, Tubingen, 1809. 
Crusenstolpe, Der Russische Hof., Hamburg, 1855. 
Ssolowjeff, History of Russia. Vol. XIX. Memoires 
du due de Liria, Paris, 1788. Russian : St. Petersburg, 
1840. History of the Election and Accession to the 
Throne of the Empress Anna Ivanovna. In the Moscow 
Westink, 1830. Manstein, Memoires Historiques, Poli- 
tiques et Militaires sur la Russie, Depuis, 1727-1744. 
Avec la Vie de I'auteur par Hiiber, Leipzig, 1771. Me- 
moires of the Princess Natalia Borissofna Dolgorucky. 
In the "Friend of Youth," Year 1810, No. 1, Russian. 
The same memoirs are also contained in the Biography 
of the Dolgorucky family, St. Petersburg, 1842, pp. 128- 
15G, also in the Russian Archives, 18G7. I. 

138 



and lack of taste. "It is to no purpose," 
observes a chronicler, "that they bedeck 
themselves in cloth of silver and gold, when 
with the costly garments they Avear the most 
wretchedly curled perruques, or the most 
beautiful stufis botched by the hand of an un- 
skilful tailor. A richly dressed man rides in a 
wretched coach drawn by sorry jades. For one 
well dressed person ten may be seen dressed in 
the most miserable taste. The physique of the 
women is generally good ; one sees many- 
pretty faces, but few handsome forms." 

There was the same want of harmony in the 
appointments of the houses. In the most 
luxurious apartments the dirt was as thick 
as one's finger in the corners and on the 
walls. Gold poured from Russia into foreign 
countries, there being as yet no manufactories 
of luxuries in Russia. The large number of 
court balls may be imagined when it is stated 
that every person who could in any degree be 
reckoned among the number of the court 
nobles was compelled to expend from two to 
three thousand rubles for clothing annually — 
three thousand rubles, at a time when the 
proudest palaces in the capital cost only twelve 
thousand ! 

Notwithstanding his relations with the Em- 

139 



press, Biron made a distinguished marriage. 
His Duchess understood her advantage. She 
loved indolence and display ; her dia- 
monds were worth two millions, and her 
magnificent equipage was drawn by the 
most costly horses in the whole country. All 
this luxury of Madame Biron's was paid 
for by the Duke's paramour, or rather by the 
Russian people, who for ten long years had 
been drained in the most unexampled manner 
by the parvenu. Famine reigned far and near, 
whole towns fell into decay, parents killed 
their children to save them from the misery 
and starvation into which excessive contribu- 
tions had phmged the whole population. 

Is it a wonder that the tormented people at 
length revolted and endeavored to exj^el the 
usurper, the "Monster Biron," from the land? 
Unhappily, the revolution was betrayed and 
stifled in its germ. Its only result was to fur- 
nish the ruthless destroyer occasion to car- 
ry on with increased vigor the business of ex- 
ecutioner. The Tzarina offered no resistance. 
She was so completely in Biron's power that 
he dared to strike her when she presumed to 
intercede for those whom he had condemned. 

When the Empress was nearing the end of 
her days, Biron, like his successor and prot^- 

140 



tyjDe Mentschikoff, formed projects for securing 
the throne to himself. He persuaded Anna to 
choose as her successor her nephew Joan An- 
tonovitcli of Brunswick, an infant in the arms, 
with himself as regent during the minority. 

But as with Mentschikoff so was it with 
Biron. 

The regency was numbered by weeks. The 
people gathered courage, and one night Biron- 
and his family were taken from their warm 
and sumptuous beds and carried off to prison. 

After Biron's person had been secured, the 
confiscation of his effects began. The value of 
the treasures found in his palace amounted to 
fourteen millions of rubles. Amongst them 
was a toilet of pure gold studded with precious 
stones of great price. In Mitau, Libau and 
AVindau, all the Duke's effects were placed un- 
der seal. In May 1741 the judgment pro- 
nounced against the former Duke Regent was 
published. It was death. But the Regent 
Anna who governed in the name of her infant 
son, commuted the sentence to perpetual ban- 
ishment and imprisonment at Pelim, in Sibe- 
ria. In this miserable hamlet of sixty houses, 
600 versts in the rear of Tobolsk, the fallen 
parvenu occupied a little hut of which his 
arch rival, Miinnich, had himself laid the foun- 

141 



dation. When Elizabeth a short while after 
ascended the throne, she recalled Biron from 
banishment. As the exile was returning home 
he met on the way his enemy Miinnich, who, 
banished by Elizabeth, was on his way to Pe- 
lim to occupy the hut which he had built for 
Biron and muse on the transitoriness of Rus- 
sian greatness. 

Biron went to Jaroslaw, and lived there with 
his family a retired and tranquil life until the 
end of Elizabetli's reign. Peter the Third re- 
called him to the court. He came, and threw 
himself gratefully at the monarch's feet. Miin- 
nich also soon made his appearance at Peter's 
court. Peter began his reign with the recall 
of the exiles, a generous but imprudent meas- 
ure. When Biron -and Miinnich met for the 
first time at the court, the Tzar exclaimed; "Ah, 
here are two good old friends, they must drink 
together." Biron and Miinnich glowered darkly 
at each other as they replaced the glasses on 
the table and turned away. 

The accession of Catharine was for Biron a 
happy event, for she reinstated him as Duke of 
Courland (1763). The judgments passed upon 
his last reign have been contradictory. Ac- 
cording to some it was no less severe than 
before; according to others Biron became 

142 



ill his old age a loyal and even generous ruler. 
He died in 1772 at the age of eighty-two, and 
the Court of Russia wore mourning for him for 
eight days. 

Biron left two sons and a daughter. His son 
Peter, born in 1724, had imperial blood in his 
veins and bore a strong resemblance to Anna. 
In the last ten years of Biron's life he exercised 
the sovereignty in Courlaud and his govern- 
ment was a stormy one, his rapacity having 
made him thoroughy detested. Finally the 
Courlanders appealed to Catharine to deliver 
them from the Duke (1795). Catharine evinced 
the most generous alacrity in coming to the aid 
of the unhappy Courlanders. She deposed Peter 
from the sovereignty and thrust it into her own 
pocket, into which she had already thrust por- 
tions of Turkey and Poland. 

Peter was thrice married: to a Princess Wal- 
deck, a Princess Jussupoff, and tlTe Countess 
Anna Charlotte Dorothea Medum. The first two 
wives hated him and abandoned him outright. 
With the last he lived happily enough for 
a time, but the marriage at length became one 
of misery, and it was a happy event for the 
poor Countess when in 1800 the ex-Duke died. 

Anna Charlotta and Dorothea,- the sister of 
the celebrated authoress, Elise von der Pecke, 

143 



and herself a woman of intellect, with an ardent 
love of the beautiful, had by Peter four daugh- 
ters. The oldest, Catharine Frederika, mar- 
ried Prince Rohan, separated from him and 
married Trubetskoy, from whom she was also 
separated. On her estates she was known as 
the Duchess of Segan. The second daughter 
of Charlotte Dorothea, Maria Paulina, married 
the hereditary Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechin- 
gen, but lived apart from her husband; the 
third, Johanna Catharine, married the Duke 
of Acerenza Belmonte-Pignatelli and separated 
from him; the fourth followed the example of 
her sisters. 

The daughter of Duke Ernest Johann Biron, 
Hedwig Elizabeth, born in 1727, had already 
suitors in 1740; amongst them the father of the 
appanaged Prince of Sachsen-Meiningen asked 
for her in marriage. But the Duke being then 
in the zenith of his power the appanaged 
Prince of Sachsen-Meiningen was too humble 
an alliance,and the suitor was bluntly dismissed. 
Biron 's fall ensued not long after and his 
daughter would have remained a spinster had 
not in 1759, a simple lieutenant, Baron Tscher- 
kasson decided to marry her. This marriage, 
also, like all the marriages in the Biron family, 
was unhappy. • ^ 

144 



THE EMPRESS ELIZABETH AND 
HER LOVERS. 



Elizabeth's Betrothed. — Her First Lover, the Soldier 
Schubin. — His Banishment to Siberia. — The Singer 
Rasumovsky, the Husband of an Empress.— Michael 
Woronsoff. — Streetsweepers, Coachmen, Servants 
and Hostlers, the Empress's Lovers. — The Two Schu- 
valovs. — The Rejected Empress. — Elizabeth's Chil- 
dren. — Character of the Tzarina Elizabeth, the Good. 



ASTONISHING! That the same century 
whose early years saw the women of 
Russia languishing in the deepest depths of 
oriental seclusion, saw also the imperial throne 
almost exclusively occupied by women. Not 
one of them, however, showed herself worthy 
of the great task which suddenly devolved 
upon her. All of them suffered the Empire to 
be governed by favorites of the lowest class. 

To Catharine I. succeeded, after the short 
interregnum of Peter II., Anna Ivanovna, who, 

145 



after the few weeks' " reign " of the infant son 
of Ivan Antonovitch was succeeded in the year 
1740 by EHzabeth, the daughter of Peter the 
Great. 

UnUke her sister Anna the favorite of Peter, 
who died early, Ehzabeth was from her earliest 
youth lost to all sense of shame. She was the 
worst of all the Russian Messalinas,* w^orse 
than Catharine I., or even than Catharine II. 
Catharine I. contented herself with a few lov- 
ers, Anna Ivanovna with but one. Catharine 
II. was a woman of gifted intellect who con- 
ferred many benefits upon the Empire and 
who externally at least might be deemed to 
possess a claim to her surname of Great. Eliza- 
beth possessed not a single attribute of a 

* Chrouique Scandaleuse des Petersburger Hofes seit 
den Zeiten der Kaiserin Elisabeth, Fiirtli, 1832. F. L. 
A. Horschelmann, Pragmatische Geschichte der Merk- 
wlirdigsten Staats-veranderungen im RussischenReiche, 
von dem Ableben Peters des Grosseu, bis Katharina II., 
Erfurt, 1763. Lacombe, Histoirc des Revolutions dc 
I'Empire de Russie, Amsterdam, 1778. Pekarsky, the 
Marquis de la Chetardie in Russia, St. Petersburg, 1862. 
G-raf zu Lynar, Hinterlassene Staatsschriften, 2 Biiude, 
Hamburg, 1793-1797. Compare with this: Jansen, 
Rochus Friedrich Graff zu Lynar, Oldenburg, 1873. 
Friedrichs des Grossen Nachgelasseue Schriften III., 
IV., V. Wassiltschikoff, The Rasumovsky Family, St. 
Petersburg, 1880. Ernst Herrmann, Der Russische Hof 
unter Kaiserin Elisabeth. Historisches Taschertbuch, 

146 



sovereign. She had neither the abihty nor the 
disposition to govern her powerful Empire ; 
she was as incapable as she was corrupt, as 
drunken as she was dissolute. The disorderly 
life which she led enervated not only her body 
but her mind, which nature had not highly 
endowed. She showed an ever-increasing 
apathy in regard to everything except sensual 
excitements, which alone could dispel her 
torpor. She was deficient in every kind of 
education, for her understanding of German 
and French as well as Russian could not be 
reckoned as education. Neither had she any 
comprehension of politics. She was friendly 
toward France because the French Minister, 
the Marquis de la Chetardie, had won her favor 
and been instrumental in her elevation to the 



VI., I., Leipzig, 1882. Schafer, Aus den Letzten Tagen 
der Kaiserin Elisabeth von Russland, Historische Zeit- 
schrist XXXVI. Hanway, Beschreibung der Raise von 
London durch Russland und Persien, Hamburg, 1754. 
Correspondence of Ivan Ivanovitcli Schuvaloff, Russian 
Archives, 18G4, 4 ; 1869,11; 1870,8,9. Michael Illariano- 
witch Woronzoff, Archives of Prince WoronzofE, Mos- 
cow, 1870, 1871, 1892, and Russian Archives, 1870, 8 and 
9. Schtcherbatoff, Corruption of Morals in Russia, 
edited in London. Compare Semewsky, Russkaja 
Statina, 1870, 7 and 8 ; Galachoff's Historische Chresto- 
mathie. Vol. I. Schlosser, Geschischte des Achtzehnten 
Jahrhunderts. Also the works on Peter III. and Catha- 
rine II. .1 

147 



throne ; she was friendly to Austria and 
Saxony because these powers w^ere subservient 
to herself, but the great Frederick who made 
her the target for his wit, she abhorred. 

During weeks and months she held herself 
completely aloof from affairs of State. If she 
gave them a thought it was with the utmost 
listlessness, and at times was not even to be 
persuaded to affix her name to important State 
papers. The answer to a letter from Louis 
XV. announcing the birth of a grandson, was 
held back for three years because Elizabeth 
was too much occupied with her love affairs to 
sign it. In a conversation with her nephew 
the day before her death, she is said to have 
exacted from him a promise that no harm 
should befall her favorites, especially Kirill 
Rasumovsky and Ivan Schuvaloff, but not a 
word as to her duties as sovereign. 

Elizabeth received the surname of "the 
Good " on account of a promise which she 
made upon her accession not to inflict the 
death penalty. Banishment to Siberia and the 
knout came only the more into prominence. 
More than eighty thousand persons — often for 
the most trifling offences, or upon the merest 
suspicion — more than eighty thousand persons 
were knouted, mutilated, banished, during 

148 



Elizabeth's reign. For all these the death 
penalty would have been a benevolent inflic- 
tion. In comparison with the suff'erings which 
the exiles of that day endured, Kennan's de- 
scriptions of the Siberia of to-day are pictures 
of light ; for Elizabeth, who had herself come 
to the throne by a revolution, was in perpetual 
fear of being violently deposed. 

In appearance the Empress bore a strong 
resemblance to her mother. According to the 
report of those who knew her, while she might 
have been more delicately modeled, her figure 
was on the whole extremely graceful. '' Her 
air and step were majestic, her skin remarkably 
fine, her eyes bright and her glance captivat- 
ing. Her accent and manner of speaking were 
gracious and j^leasing." She had chestnut 
brown hair, and dark l)rows which enhanced 
the beauty of her large blue eyes, a peculiarly 
attractive smile, that easily changed to a jovial 
laugh showing a row of white teeth. She was 
always cordial to her friends and aff'able to 
those about her. Gay, amiable, animated, the 
Tzarina Elizabeth produced the most charming 
impression upon men. 

The Duke de Lyria, the Spanish Ambassa- 
dor, who was very unfriendly to her and lost 
no opportunity of descanting upon her vices, 

149 



could not but admit that she was a woman of 
extraordinary beauty. Not only men such as 
the French Ministers, La Vie and Campredon, 
went into raptures over her beauty, even 
women were forced to recognize and admit that 
she was beautiful. 

Pier hand had been early sought in marriage. 
When a child her sister Anna had formed a 
project of marrying her to Louis XV., then 
to the Duke de Chartres, Conde, and 
to the Duke de Biron. As she grew up the 
Germans follovred the French — Prince August 
Bischoff von Lubec, Duke Ferdinand of Cour- 
land, Prince Maurice of Saxony, Prince Fred- 
erick of Sulzbach, the Margrave Charles of 
Brandenburg-Baireuth and Prince Peter Biron. 
Even the Infanta of Portugal, Dom Manuel, 
and the son of the Shah, asked for her hand. 
In Russia there was naturally no lack of ador- 
ers ; the young Tzar Peter II. was in love Avith 
his aunt, Dolgorucky also, the Tzar's friend, 
and young Prince Mentschikoff. Before the 
death of Catharine I. Elizabeth was finally be- 
trothed to the Duke of Holstein-Eutin, who 
died on the very day set for the marriage. She 
seems to have been greatly attached to him and 
to have mourned his loss. Even long years 
after and in the period of her greatest immor- 

150 



ality, she kept the anniversary of his death in 
pious remembrance. Her distress at his loss 
was such that she resolved never to marry at 
all. This resolution she adhered to in so far 
that she never really gave her hand officially to 
any of her numerous wooers, but she lavished 
the most ardent affection upon her lovers, and 
soon ceased to be ashamed of actions at which 
the most immodest might blush. 

With her first favorite, the soldier Schubin, 
she withdrew to a suburb of the capital, and to / 
avoid recognition they frequented together the 
country and forests, where, however, the two 
supposed men were now and then unseasonably 
surprised. 

During the lifetime of Catharine, and even 
under Peter II., this affair remained to some 
extent a secret, but under the Tzarina Anna it 
became notorious and scandalous, and when 
Schubin went so far as to insult the Grand 
Duchess before the whole Court, the Empress 
saw herself constrained to banish her cousin's 
lover to Siberia, where he remained many 
years. 

Elizabeth was inconsolable, and in the de- 
spair of her heart, instead of grieving to death 
over the lover of whom she had been robbed, 
she took several. 

151 



One of the most prominent of her next lov- 
ers was Alexis Raeumovsky, the son of a peas- 
ant of Ukraine, whose fine voice obtained for 
him the position of Imperial singer and who in 
this capacity won her approval. After Schubin's 
banishment, the Grand Duchess sent her friend 
Madam Ivan Ismailoff to Rasumovsky as the 
bearer of her offer of love, which was promptly 
accepted. Rasumovsky obtained the position 
of singer and lute player to the Grand Duchess, 
and was soon advanced to the dignity of su- 
perintendent of her household and lord of her 
heart. 

The Tzarina, who had a respect for appear- 
ances, wished to banish Rasumovsky as she had 
banished Schubin, but this time she encoun- 
tered so vigorous an opposition on the part of 
her cousin that she ended l^y permitting her to 
do as she pleased. When Elizabeth came to 
the throne * her first care was to reward her 
lovers. 

*After the French Minister, the Marquis de la Che- 
tardie, who contributed French gold to the cause and 
himself possessed her jjersoual favor, Elizabeth was 
chielly indebted for her throne to Johann Hermann 
I'Estocq, her physician, who had come to St. Petersburg 
a young man in 1713, and had quickly won the favor of 
Peter. In 1725 Catharine I. appointed him surgeon to her 
daughter Elizabeth, a position which he held until 1748. 
After the death of Peter II., I'Estocq wished to assist 

152 



Rasumofeky was made a count and brought 
into the palace where to the end of his life he 
occupied an apartment adjoining that of the 
Empress. But finally, as Elizabeth was no 
less pious than she was immoral, she suffered 
herself to be i^ersuaded that her relations with 
him offended heaven, and to propitiate heaven 

Elizabeth to gain the throue, but the indolent and timid 
princess declined his proposals. It was not till eleven 
years after, that she interested herself to the extent of 
not contradicting L'Estocq's designs, when together with 
Michael Woronzoif , a musician, and Schwarz-Grlinstein, 
a soldier of the guard, the project was undertaken by 
which in 1741 the infant Ivan Antonovitch was deposed 
and the daughter of Peter the Great ascended the throne. 
In the beginning Elizabeth showed herself grateful to 
I'Estocq, and conferred upon him honors and dignities. 
But she soon abandoned him and permitted envious per- 
sons to bring false accusations against him on account 
of which he was banished to Asia. It may have con- 
tributed to I'Estocq's misfortune that his ugly wife had 
won the favor of the handsome Kurt von Schonberg 
which Elizabeth had wooed in vain. (See page 160). 

Grunstein was promoted Irom the rank of a common 
soldier to be adjutant-general to the Empress and soon 
after to major-general. But he had the presumption to 
criticise her immorality and was banished to Siberia. 
The musician Schwarz might have enjoyed in peace the 
landed estate he had received from Elizabeth as the 
price of his deed, but a peasant girl whom he pursued 
and persecuted killed her master and tormentor with a 
pitchfork. Unclouded prosperity was enjoyed only by 
Michael Woronzoff, of whom we shall hear later. 



153 



a priestly marriage ceremony was secretly per- 
formed, in accordance with all the forms of 
consecrated unions. 

The Empress was no sooner eternally bound 
to her lover than she wanted to be eternally 
rid of him. But she was two weak to dissolve 
the marriage, too weak even to banish her ob- 
noxious husband from the court or the palace. 
He remained therefore at the side of the Em- 
press while others performed his duties. 

Soon after her accession Elizabeth bethought 
her of Schubin, and sent a courier to Siberia 
in quest of the exile. After a pursuit of years, 
the messenger discovered the object of his 
search and brought him in 1743 to St. Peters- 
burg. But the once handsome and vigorous 
Schubin was now miserable and sickly. He 
no longer pleased the Empress. She therefore 
promoted him from sergeant to lieutenant gen- 
eral, and conferred upon him a pension and a 
handsome estate — at the remotest distance from 
St. Petersburg. There he w^ent, and remained 
until his blessed end. 

Schubin's place was filled by a soldier of the 
guard named Buturlin. Elizabeth's lovers 
were with one exception chosen from the lowest 
of the low, and her sensuality grew so refined 
that only the most repulsive ugliness possessed 

154 



a charm for lier. She was wildly infatuated 
with the ugliest man at the capital, a rough 
and dirty Kalmuck. 

" Her court," says the sober Schlosser, "was 
composed of the rabble in the lowest sense of 
the term." It swarmed with persons of the 
commonest sort, utterly devoid of intelligence 
or heart, for the most pnvt the merest outcasts, 
who had once enjoyed her' highest favor and 
had filled the principal functions in the State, 
had received the first orders and boundless 
wealth. 

A certain Carl Sievers, a servant of the 
Tzarina's who often came into her presence 
attracted her attention and won her regard 
to such an extent that she could not separate 
from him even while others were the recipients 
of her faA^ors. He filled two offices, that of 
ardent lover and that of coffee-maker. Eliza- 
beth loved coffee as much as she loved men. 
As Sievers discharged well both of these func- 
tions, he was rewarded with riches and honors, 
and, like all the rest, raised to the rank of 
count. 

The career of Michael Woronzoft' was bril- 
liant. He rose from the lowest ranks of the 
people to the dignity of count and lord chan- 
cellor, and when Elizabeth tired of him she 

155 



U' 



married him to her cousin, the Countess of 
Skavronska. 

Once when the Tzarina was on a journey, 
she remarked a street-sweep, whose name was 
LjaHin, and ordered him to the palace, where 
he was forthwith instated as servant and lover 
to the Empress. Growing tired of him in a 
few weeks, she made him a chamberlain, a 
count, and the owner of a landed estate, — at a 
distance from St. Petersburg. 

Jermolay Skvarzoff, Woshinsky, Poltarazky, 
were placed at the court as servants, coach- 
men and singers, and all three suddenly be- 
came chamberlains, counts, and finally landed 
proprietors ; Poltarsky was made in addition 
director of the imperial chapel, which office he 
held until his death in 1795. 

After Pasumovsky, the one of Elizabeth's 
lovers who preserved her favor the longest was 
Ivan Schuvaloff, a descendent of an old and 
noble family, at that time impoverished. Ivan 
was made first page, then chamberlain, and in 
his fiftieth year lord of the bedchamber to 
the Empress. He retained Elizabeth's favor 
until her death. He refused the Tzarina's 
offer of the title of count, and also the riches 
which she would have conferred upon him. 
He was modest and honorable. On her death- 

156 



bed Elizabeth gave him the key of a casket 
which contained inestimable treasures in jewels, 
gold and valuable papers, and said : "All this 
is yours." 

Schuvaloff took nothing, but gave the key 
to Peter the Third, the heir to the throne. 

This modesty was the car.se of Elizabeth's 
unshaken constancy. Ivan Schuvaloff never 
importuned her, never asked favors, was never 
jealous. 

All the more jealous was she. 

At one time she believed she had real grounds 
for her jealousy, but being unable to learn with 
exactness which of the court ladies had pre- 
sumed to win even the most passing favor of 
Schuvaloff, the most horrible persecution of all 
the women and girls whom the Tzarina re- 
garded in the light of "suspects" was insti- 
tuted. They were seized and without trial 
subjected to the most cruel punishments. After 
having their heads shaved as a mark of dishonor 
they were thrown into houses of correction to 
become the prey of bandits. Whether the 
guilty one was actually amongst those who 
were thus tortured is a point concerning which 
history is silent. 

Ivan Schuvaloff preserved, nevertheless, 
Elizabeth's favor. He survived her many years, 

157 



passed fora jovial gentleman, was a patron of the 
arts and sciences, and founded the St. Petersburg 
Academy of Art. In the reign of Peter the 
Third he was prosperous, but under Catharine 
he met with disaster. After losing his very- 
large fortune at play he was reduced to live on 
a pension of four thousand rubles. He was 
ninety years old v/hen he died. 

The brothers Alexander and Peter Schuval- 
off enjoyed, as well as their brother Ivan, the 
favor of the Empress. Both of them were 
rapacious and cruel. Alexander was a person 
of little merit, but Peter possessed some repu- 
tation as a soldier and statesman. The progen- 
itor of many distinguished Russian houses is 
reputed to have been the child of Elizabeth. 
It is tolerably certain that she had a son by 
Count Sakrevsky and by Rasumovsky and a 
daughter, the Countess Elizabeth Tarakanof, 
by Schuvaloff.* 

*Helbig, " Russische Gunstlinge," page 172: "Schu- 
valoff is said to be the father of a daughter born to Eliz- 
abeth about the year 1753. She was called Elizabeth and 
afterwards received, if we do not mistake, the name of 
Princess Tarakanof. This child for whom an Italian 
chambermaid of the Empress took the place of mother, 
was sent to Italy and grew up thei'e. As long as the 
Empress lived she wanted for nothing, but after her 
death she was left in destitution. Schuvaloff visited 
Italy and saw his daughter, but without daring to make 

158 



The Tzarina's advances were not always well 
received. At her Court was a Saxon, Kurt 
von Schonberg, whom. Frederick Augustus the 
Second had sent to Russia to organize some 
mining enterprises. He found the court of 
Elizabeth and the loose morals which prevailed 
there so much to his taste that he decided to 
remain. 

He was a handsome man and much sought 
after by the fair. Elizabeth approached him 
with the most unmistakable overtures, but was 

himself known to her. In her seventieth year she 
was living there in very indigent circumstances." Arch- 
euholz in his book, "England und Italien," says: "A 
remarkable event occurred in Leghorn in March, 1775. 
A Russian lady of lowly birth but of illustrious descent, 
has been living for two years in Rome in the greatest 
poverty. Under such circumstances the idea of raising 
her eyes to a throne could easily germinate. She was 
intelligent, educated and of a gentle disposition. Her 
retirement was suddenly broken in upon by a Russian 
officer who made to her by word of mouth some startling 
revelations, accompanying them by a considerable present 
of money — an argument which in her needy circumstances 
had the anticipated effect. The lady suff'ered herself to 
be persuaded, and in the year.1775 she came to Pisa where 
Count Alexis Orloff then was. The latter received her 
like a queen, accompanied her everywhere, and at the 
theatre showed her a deference in public which astonished 
the whole nobility and caused every one to wonder who 
the lady could be toward whom the haughty Count was 
so obsequious. At Leghorn they were hospitably enter- 
tained by the English Consul Dyck. At the table the 

159 



respectfully repulsed. For Herr von Schonberg 
was already disposed of in favor of the wife 
of the Doctor I'Estocq to whom Elizabeth was 
indebted for her throne. This Madam I'Estocq, 
a German of humble birth by the name of 
Miller, was ugly, drunken and dirty. Never- 
theless she was preferred by the handsome 
Kurt to a munificent and beautiful Empress. 

Who can fathom the heart of man ! 

The older Elizabeth grew the more inordi- 
nate grew her vanity, her love of display and 

conversation fell on the fleet, and the lady not having 
been on board of a man of war consented to visit one of 
the vessels. Little dreaming what awaited her she got into 
a boat with the Count, and on reaching the vessel was 
lifted in. Here at once the scene changed. She was 
handcuffed and disdainfully informed that she was a 
prisoner. The ship remained two days longer at the 
port making preparations for her voyage to Russia. 
Meanwhile, no strange ship was allowed to approach her. 
On the third day she set sail with her booty. The court 
expressed its displeasure very distinctly over this pro- 
cedure and the whole city was aroused over the event." 
So much for Archenholz. Helbig continues : " The lady 
was taken to St. Petersburg. There she was accused of 
being insane and confined first in the fortress and after- 
wards at Schltlsselberg where in 1776 she expired, not 
without suspicion of a violent death." In addition to 
this narrative of Helbig's see the section " Eine Praten- 
dentin " in Bruckner's classic work upon Catharine the 
Second, Berlin, 1883, pp. 208-217. On this subject Bruck- 
ner also in 1891, presented some interesting new devel- 
opments in the Muncher Neuesten NachricMen under the 

160 



her jealousy of beautiful women. It was a pecu- 
liarity of hers to wear every day a different 
costume. She was careful and cleanly, and 
her style of dress was tasteful, sumptuous and 
extravagant. She thought to enhance her' 
beauty by appearing always differently gowned, 
changing her attire a half dozen if not a dozen 
times a day, and seldom wearing the same 
gown more than once. Her most magnificent 
toilet was in the afternoon upon rising from 
her midday siesta at which she usually had 

title : " Ein ratselhafter Todesfall im Hause der Roman- 
ows." Bruckner does not accept Helbig's statement, 
and says : " The real facts of the case show us that Cath- 
arine acted in this affair, not from purely personal con- 
siderations, but out of regard for the safety of her Empire, 
energetically, firmly and resolutely, to meet a danger 
whose consequences in a period which had brought forth 
a Pugatschef , it was diflQcult to foresee." He character- 
izes the story related of the Countess Tarakanof as sen- 
sational and devoid of any historical basis. According 
to him, the lady, who did not bear the name of Tarakanof 
and was not the daughter of Schuvaloff, but of Kirill 
(not Alexis) Rasumovsky, was a mere adventuress and 
sharper who made pretentions to the throne and was 
repudiated. JVIelnikow, " the Princess Tarakanof and the 
Princess von Wladimir," St. Petersburg, 1888. has assem- 
bled all the data with regard to Elizabeth's supposed 
ehildreu. Sec, lastly, W. Panin, Papers of the Historical 
aud.^Antiquarian Society of Moscow, 1867, I., and the 
German work : Die vorgebliche Tochter der Kaiserin 
Elisabeth. Berlin, 1867. Von G. B. (Brevern). 

161 



the company of one of her favorites. Among 
her effects after her death were found more than 
fifteen thousand perfectly new gowns, two large 
chests full of silk stockings, two of silk ribbons, 
thousands of shoes and slippers, and huge piles 
of costly stuffs The greater i^art of the fifteen 
thousand gowns were in the form of wrappers, 
as the Empress usually went to bed intoxicated 
and could not easily be undressed. They were 
therefore made very simply so as to admit of 
being easily ripped off. When at the celebra- 
tion of the conclusion of peace with Turkey 
the play " Oleg," in which seven hundred per- 
sons took part, was produced by Catharine II. 
at the St. Petersburg theatre, the women's cos- 
tumes were drawn from the wardrobe of Eliza- 
beth, and such magnificent toilettes were never 
seen uj^on a stage at one time. 

Elizabeth's envy kept pace with her vanity. 
No woman of her Court must be esteemed 
beautiful by comparison with herself. Unfor- 
tunately, there was a Madam Lapuchin whose 
beauty even the Empress herself could not 
disavow, and who became the object of her 
most violent rage and hatred. At last an op- 
portunity arose to gratify her vengeance. Be- 
ing informed that Madame Lapuchin had 
spoken evil of herself, she caused her to be 

162 



arrested and knouted. The punishment was 
inflicted in the presence of the Tzarina, who 
had inherited her father's taste for witnessing 
executions. An eye witness has described the 
terrible scene.* One of the jailers tore off a 
sort of cloak which concealed the bosom of the 
beautiful Lapuchin. The condemned woman 
shrank back with offended modesty, turned pale 
and sobbed. She was seized by rude hands and 
in a moment her clothing was torn off, leaving 
her exposed naked to her girdle to the eager 
gaze of an enormous crowd. 

She was then taken by an executioner and 
bound to the back of another, while with a 
knout especially prepared for her she was 
whipped until the flesh hung from her in rib- 
bons. At last the poor woman was taken almost 
lifeless, placed in a wretched vehicle and trans- 
ported to Siberia. 

This was the last great deed of the Tzarina 
Elizabeth, whom Russian historians have named 
"the Good." 

*Voyage en Siberie par M.l' Abbe Chapped' Auteroche. 
Amsterdam, 17T0, II. 368, in which, will be fouud a de- 
scription of this scene. 



163 



MARRIAGE AND AMOURS OF PETER 
THE FOOLISH. 



Peter's Character. — His Education. — Catharine, Born 
Princess of Zerbst. — Peter's Excesses. — Elizabeth 
Romanovna Woronzoff. — Catharine's craftiness. — 
Princess Dashkoii. — The End of Peter and Elizabeth 
Voronzofif. 



PETER THE THIRD, the most pitiable 
Tzar who ever occupied the throne of the 
Romanoffs, was a strange admixture of good 
intentions and follies. He became early pene- 
trated with a horror of servitude, a love of 
e(_[uality and an enthusiasm for heroic deeds. 
But he could love what was good only in a 
petty fashion, and when he would fain have 
imitated his prototypes, he learned only their 
idiosyncracies. Peter the Great having risen 
from the rank of pikeman, Peter the Third 
wished to enter the army as a private soldier ; 
and because he idolized Frederick the Second, 

164 



he wore like him narrow gamashes and dressed 
his body guard in the Prussian uniform.* 

Upon ascending the throne Peter recalled 
the administrative exiles, a generous act, whose 
consequences, however, were evil. The Em- 
pire, the city, and the Court were soon filled with 
persons seeking vengeance for their wrongs. 
At the Court especially, the most determined 
and bitter enemies such as Biron, Miinnich 
and TEstocq, encountered each other. Peter, 
in his relations with them, showed the most 
mischievous lack of address. 

He thought he could best exhibit his con- 
tempt for everything Russian by showing his 
partiality for what was German, or Prussian, 
and he thereby drew upon himself the l^itter 
hatred of those whom he wished to control. 

*Peter the Third inherited military tastes from liis 
father, Charles Frederick. The Duke made his son a 
common soldier when a mere child, afterwards 'pro- 
moting him to the rank of a subaltern officer. On a birth- 
day the little Prince was required to mount guard in the 
dining room, being relieved during the repast in regular 
fashion, and promoted to lieutenant for his soldierly 
bearing. From this time on Peter's constant association 
was with officers, and from this time dates his fondness 
for a military life, a fondness which degenerated into 
the ridiculous, and contributed largely to his downfall 
and melancholy end. In spite of his soldierly proclivi- 
ties, Peter was all his life the veriest coward. 



165 



And there were enough in the land to whom 
the grandson of Peter the Great was an object 
of abhorrence. That he had thus developed 
was the natural consequence of the atmosphere 
in which he had been reared. 

Peter w^as born at Kiel, on the 10th of Feb- 
ruary, 1728 (old style). He was given the 
name of Karl Peter Ulrich, after his father, 
his maternal grandfather and his father's aunt. 
His career began inauspiciously. During the 
festivities attending the celebration of his bap- 
tism a chest of powder exploded. A short 
while after, his mother caught a cold of which 
she died. Peter was then not three years old. 
The widowed Duke of twenty-eight years had 
not even during the lifetime of his wife been 
distinguished for his domestic virtues. The 
Duchess often complained of him to her sister, 
the Grand Duchess Elizabeth : " The Duke 
and Mavruschka (Mavra Jogorovna Schepelof, 
the Duke's mistress) are quite disreputable. 
He is never at home, and they drive or attend 
the theatre together." 

He now neglected his home altogether. 
Until the year 1735 the education of Prince 
Charles Peter was left entirely to women. In 
his seventh year he was placed in charge of 
members of the Holstein nobility. With the 

166 



exception of the French language which he 
learned in his earliest childhood from the vv'o- 
men by whom he was surrounded and for the 
study of v/hich hours were still set apart, the 
only thing he learned was Latin. At hiBt, 
when it began to appear probable that he 
would succeed to the throne of Russia, he 
received instruction in the Russian language 
and religion. It does not appear, however, 
that his instruction was such as was likely to 
inspire him with any love of them. 

Peter was eleven years old when in the sum- 
mer of 1739 his father died leaving his son 
only a heavily burdened dukedom. He came 
under the guardianship of the Bishop of Lu- 
beck, Adolph Friedrich, afterwards King of 
Sweden, a relative of the Prince on his father's 
side, by which his opportunities for an educa- 
tion were in no wise bettered. The tutors to 
whom he was confided were two men who 
instead of forming the character of their puj)il, 
destroyed it. One of them, von Briimmer, 
was a low intriguer and profligate, a good 
horseman, but utterly unfitted to be tutor to a 
prince. He was also unfriendly to his pupil, 
C{uarreled with him incessantly, and was 
roughly abusive for the smallest offence. The 

167 



other, Bergholz,* gave himself no concern 
whatever for his charge, leaving him entirely 
in the hands of Briimmer. 

Notwithstanding that Prince Charles Peter 
Ulrich was a weak and sickly child, Briimmer 
often suffered him to go without food from 
early in the morning until two o'clock. If he 
surreptitiously procured dry bread and ate 
until he had appeased his hunger, and Briim- 
mer remarked at table his w^ant of appetite, he 
sent him to stand in a corner and look on 
while the others ate. There w^as no lack even 
of heavy blows, and other measures appro- 
priate to impress on the child a sense of his 
own dignity. In return, the latter showed 
himself passionate and wilful. Peter was all 
his life a braggadocio, a peculiarity which 
afterwards caused him to be much ridiculed in 
St. Petersburg where he w^as known to be a 
great coward. 

A sudden project was set on foot to place the 
young Prince not on the Russian but on the 
Swedish throne, and instruction in the Russian 

*Bergholz was the author of a diary of a visit to the 
court of St, Petersburg in the early part of the century. 
The diary, which was published in Busching's Historical 
Magazine, contains nothing of special interest. His 
account of Catharine the First and her children has been 
reproduced on page 119. 

168 



language and religion gave way to instruction 
in the Swedisli language and the Lutheran 
religion. But in November, 1741, Elizabeth 
Petrovna ascended the throne of the Roman- 
offs, and she very soon after wrote to her 
nephew desiring him to come to Russia and 
be brought up there as the heir to the throne. 
The young Prince received congratulations 
upon this auspicious event which proved in 
the end so terrible a misfortune. 

Duke Peter came to St. Petersburg in 1742. 
The Empress received him with honor in the 
winter palace, celebrated his coming with fes- 
tivities, and the people flocked to see their 
future Tzar. The following description has 
been given of him : " He was excessively 
pale and delicate looking ; in short, every- 
thing in his appearance betokened the weakest 
constitution. The appearance of delicacy was 
enhanced by his blond hair, which hung 
down long in the fashion called Spanish. The 
evidences of feeble health were such as necessi- 
tated the immediate adoption of appropriate 
medical treatment." 

The education which he had been receiving 
now underwent a slight change. He was in- 
structed by Professor Stahlin who became his 
head tutor, in history, mathematics, physics, 

169 



moral philosophy and politics. He studied 
also Russian four times a week, and was with 
special diligence instructed in the dogmas of 
the Greek religion. When he had attained 
an adequate degree of proficiency in the latter, 
he was on the 17-18 November, 1742, received 
into the orthodox church, and an imperial 
manifesto proclaimed the Grand Duke Feodo- 
rovitch — as the Prince was now called — pub- 
licly and solemnly as the heir to the throne. 

As soon as the Grand Duke was fifteen 
years old Elizabeth began to bethink her of 
finding him a wife. The choice of a bride for 
the now acknowledged heir to the Russian 
crown was an afiair of moment. The various 
power-makers at the court of the Tzarina be- 
stirred themselves to search for a bride who 
might prove advantageous to themselves, and 
the ambassadors of foreign courts began to 
consider the C[uestion of providing him with 
an Empress who should be favorable to their 
respective governments. The talk w^as now of 
an English, now of a French Princess. Eliza- 
beth's choice fell first upon the Princess 
Sophia, of Zerbst, and next on the Princess 
Maria Anna, of Saxon-Poland, afterwards the 
wife of Maximiliam Joseph, Elector of Bavaria ; 
then upon Amelia of Prussia, afterwards Ab- 

170 



bess of Quedlinburg. The last two were un- 
willing to change their faith and declined the 
honor ; but while the answer from the Saxon 
court was couched in very courteous language, 
the response from Berlin was scarcely civil. 
Frederick the Second wrote to Mandefeld, his 
Ambassador at St. Petersburg : " With regard to 
my sisters you know my view^s. I shall not 
marry any of them to Russia. I am surprised 
the Empress has not adhered to her choice of 
the Princess of Zerbst, she being of the Hol- 
stein family to which she is so much attached. 
In Hesse-Darmstadt also there are two prin- 
cesses, one twenty and the other eighteen." 

In March, 1743, Prince August von Holstein 
came to St. Petersburg, and it was not by acci- 
dent that he brought with him a likeness of the 
Princess Sophia Augusta Frederika of Anlialt- 
Zerbst. The expressive face pleased the Em- 
press ; the Grand Duke also was well j)leased 
with it. It was greatly in the young Prin- 
cess's favor that she was the daughter of a Prin- 
cess of Holstein, whose brother had been be- 
trothed to Elizabeth but wdio died before the 
marriage took place. The project was favor- 
ably received, therefore, and early in Decem- 
ber, 1743, Elizabeth sent Briimmer, the Grand 
Duke's Marshal, to invite the reigning Princess 

171 



of Zerbst and her daughter to visit St. Peters- 
burg and ten thousand rubles to defray the 
expenses of the journey. 

In the beginning of February, 1744, the Prin- 
cess and her daughter arrived in St. Petersburg, 
l3ut the Court having two weeks before re- 
moved to Moscow, they remained there but a 
few days, after which they departed for the 
Kremlin city, arriving there on the evening of 
the 9th of February, the eve of the Grand 
Duke's birthday, which was the 10th. At the 
distance of three versts from the city they were 
met by Sievers, the lover and chamberlain of 
the Empress, bringing assurances that the Tzar- 
ina and Grand Duke were counting the minutes 
and hours until their arrival. They alighted 
at the wooden palace of Goloviu where the 
Empress was residing. In the vestibule they 
were met by Brlimmer and I'Estocq. They 
had no sooner entered their apartments, and 
before they had time to remove their furs and 
traveling cloaks, than the Grand Duke Peter 
entered and saluted the " dear guests in the 
most aftectionate manner," as the Princess 
wrote in her letters home. A messenger im- 
mediately arrived from the Empress to the 
Grand Duke, desiring him to bring the prin- 
cesses to the Empress's apartment, the sooner 

172 



the better. In spite of the lateness of the hour 
the hivitation was accepted. Elizabeth ad- 
vanced to meet them, embraced and kissed 
them affectionately, and the Princess of Zerbst 
said: " I lay at the feet of Your Majesty my 
warmest gratitude, and venture to beg that you 
will continue your protection to the rest of my 
family, and to my daughter." The Tzarina 
answered : " What I have done is nothing com- 
pared with what I would like to do for your 
family, which is as dear to me as my own. My 
intentions will always remain the same, and 
you will judge best of my friendship by my 
actions." 

They then proceeded to the sleeping chamber 
of the Empress, where an animated conversa- 
tion continued until late in the night. The 
Tzarina gazed incessantly at the Princess, who 
bore a marked resemblance to her brother. 
The poor Tzarina was greatly affected and hur- 
ried into an adjoining chamber to indulge her 
feelings. When she was composed she returned 
to her guests. 

Stahlin, the Grand Duke's tutor, noted thus 
in his diary this memorable occasion . 

"Arrival of the Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst 
and her daughter. The Empress enchanted." 

Which was true. The Empress was at first 

17:3 



enchanted with the Princess of Zeihst, and 
loaded her and her daughter witli costly pres- 
ents." Scarcely twenty-four hours after their 
arrival at Moscow, Elizabeth presented both 
ladies with the Order of Catharine, in the name 
of the Grand Duke, remarking that he had 
wished to ask for it of the Tzarina the day 
before, but had not ventured to do so. 

The Princess of Zerbst was confounded by 
this mark of imperial favor and dazzled by 
the brilliancy and luxury with which the Em- 
press had surrounded her and her daughter. 
" My daughter and I," she wrote to her hus- 
band, "live like queens; everything is laid 
with gold, and magnificent, our prospects are 
marvellous." They had their household, two 
chamberlains, two grooms of the chamber, four 
pages and a great number of servants. 

The Princess Sophia made the most favorable 
impression upon the Empress, and the Princess 
of Zerbst could with truth write to her hus- 
band : '' Notre fille trouve grande aj^probation. 
La souveraine la cherit, le successeur I'aime et 
c'est une affaire faite." And Catharine the 



■^Cipher dispatch of the Austrian Resident Count Ho- 
henholz to Count Uhlfeld. Petersburg 29 Feb. 1744 new 
style. Vienna Court and State Archives. SeeBilbassoflf 
History of Katharine II. Grerman Edition Berlin, 1891. 
Vol. Sec 2, Appendix I. Pages 35 and 40. 

174 



Second wrote subsequently in her Memoirs ; 
" The Grand Duke seemed delighted at my 
arrival. At first he was very complaisant." 

The impression which the Grand Duke made 
on the princess was also not unfavorable. A 
very friendly relation soon sprang up between 
them and an animated and confidential inter- 
change of thoughts, plans, and wishes. 

But it did not take long for the fifteen-year- 
old princess to discover that the sixteen-year- 
old prince was intellectually far behind her, 
that he was still in fact a mere child. But she 
had no wish to retreat. The future — the title 
of Empress of Russia — was too inviting. Soon, 
however, everything appeared to have lapsed 
into uncertainty*, for the princess was taken very 
ill, and it was only by the utmost care that her 
life was rescued. Upon her recovery, the 29th of 
June, which was the anniversary of the Grand 
Duke's baptism, was fixed for the betrothal. 
On the day previous, the princess made the 
orthodox confession of faith. She appeared 
at the ceremonial in an adrienne robe of rose 
colored gros de tours, trimmed with silver lace, 
and with no ornament but a white band in her 
unpowclered hair, and by her very simplicity 
made the strongest impression upon all, men 
and women alike. In a clear, firm voice and 

175 



in pure Russian, Avithout a fault, she made her 
confession of faith. The St. Petersburg News 
said in its report of the great event, " It is im- 
possible to describe the earnestness and grace 
with which this admirable Princess went 
through tLe solemn religious service ; the most 
distinguished persons present, and the Empress 
herself, could not refrain from shedding tears 
of joy." 

As a reward the devout young proselyte was 
presented by the Empress with a diamond 
agraffe, and a saint's picture in a case set with 
diamonds worth more than a hundred thou- 
sand rubles. 

In the evening Catharine Alexejevna and 
the ladies of her court waited on the Grand 
Duke and presented him with a hunting equip- 
ment set with diamonds and emeralds. 

After this they repaired to the Kremlin, 
where the next morning in the Cathedral of 
the Assumption a solemn betrothal was cele- 
brated, following which Catharine received the 
title of Grand Duchess and Imperial Highness. 
The Empress herself placed the rings on the 
hands of the young pair, little marvels which 
cost together the sum of fifty thousand ducats. 
The event was closed by the firing of cannon 
and the ringing of bells, and an auspicious 

176 



marriage appeared to have been inaugurated. 

A few weeks after the betrothal, the Grand 
Duke fell suddenly ill with the smallpox, and 
it was not until some months later, in June 
1745, that Catharine saw him again. "He had 
grown very much, and was almost unrecogniz- 
able," she says in her memoirs ; " his features 
were very much enlarged, his whole face was 
marked and it was easy to see that the scars 
would remain. As his hair been cut off he 
wore a wig, which disfigured him still more. 
He came to me and asked me if I recognized 
him. I murmured some appropriate con- 
gratulations upon his recovery, but he had 
certainly grown frightfully ugly." 

Catharine possessed so much self control and 
dissimulation that no one observed how re- 
pulsive her disfigured /lance had become to her. 
The Tzarina felt compassion for her, and exerted 
herself to divert the unfortunate bride elect. 
She surrounded her with cheerful companions 
with whom she might dance and be merry, 
and was very thoughtful and attentive. Peter, 
however, did nothing to attach Catharine to 
him, and concerned himself very little about 
her. He played soldiers with puppets, drilled 
rats, which he hanged if they were disobedient, 
and applied for instructions as to his prospective 

177 



marriage to his groom of the chamber and 
favorite, Rumber. The latter informed him 
that a woman ought never to be permitted to 
contradict a man or to meddle with his affairs ; 
if she opened her mouth to speak he should 
command her to be silent ; he was the master 
in his house." 

Catherine was deejDly depressed. The con- 
duct of her mother was a source of the keenest 
annoyance and vexation to her. The latter 
failed to comprehend her position at the court 
and mixed with political intrigues. Her im- 
morality was worse still ; * and as if to make 
good her own conduct she lent an ear to the 
insinuations of servants, with whom she was 
on terms of intimacy, and accused her daughter 
of visiting the Prince at night. Catharine 
thought of nothing less. She says .• "This from 
my mother wounded me more than all. I told 
her it was an atrocious slander, at which she 
grew angry and drove me out of the room." 

The presence of the Princess had long since 
grown irksome to the Empress and it is not to 
be wondered at that the English ambassador 

* " Confideutially I have been informed that the old 
Princess of Zerbst is really pregnant." Cipher dispatch 
of Count Rosenburg to Count Uhlfield, dated Moscow, 
Nov. 16, 1774. Bilbassoff's History of Catharine II., 
Vol. I. Section 2. Appendix 1-6. 

178 



informed his court that the Empress was anxious 
to hasten the marriage in order to get rid of 
her with decency. 

Preparations for the wedding were accord- 
ingly set on foot. It was to be celebrated with 
the utmost pomp. The Empress interested 
herself in the minutest details, and issued the 
following ukase: "We have endeavored that 
the Senate and all persons of rank should be 
notified of the marriage which is about to take 
place, in order that everyone maybe prepared 
with appropriate and as far as possible rich 
attire, as well as with the six-horse vehicles and 
other equipages. It is permitted to all on this 
solemn occasion to expend their precious things 
of gold and silver upon their apparel and 
equipages. And whereas this ceremony will 
be prolonged several days, and it is required 
of every person, man and woman, to be pro- 
vided with at least one habit, they are permitted 
to cause to be prepared two or more of such 
habits ; and also as every man is required to 
have in readiness one of the above mentioned 
equipages, he is permitted to have a second 
such equipage for his wife. The attendants 
upon such equipages will be according to rank, 
as follows : For persons of first and second 
class, two hey dues and eight lackeys ; or, if any 

179 



may desire, he may have twelve, but he may 
not have less than eight ; two first-class runners, 
and, if any desire them, one or two pages in 
addition, and two chasseurs. For those of the 
third class every carriage must be accompanied 
by six lackeys and two runners ; our chamber- 
lains and chevaliers of the Court of the same 
rank, six servants ; if any so desire they shall 
be entitled to have two runners. Persons of 
the fourth-rank class, and our chamberlains, 
as well as the chamberlains of their Imperial 
Highnesses shall have four servants. All others, 
both of the fifth and sixth-rank class, must be 
provided for this solemnity, if not during the 
ceremony, for the procession to our palace, with 
such apparel and equipage as beseems them.'' 

There seems to have been a great scarcity of 
gold, and the German ambassador whites to his 
court .• " Money and credit are so scarce that it 
is difficult to obtain loans to procure even 
the stuff for the liveries and laces, not to speak 
of other more expensive matters." 

Nevertheless all sped well. All the foreign 
courts prescribed regulations for the ceremony, 
and from Dresden and Paris came piles of de- 
scriptions of marriages, sometimes accompanied 
by illustrations. 

In the middle of August heralds in armor 

180 



accompanied by soldiers of the guard and dra- 
goons rode through the streets of St. Petersburg 
with drums, and announced to the people that 
the marriage would take place on the 21st of 
August in the Kasan Church. Fountains of 
wine and festal l)oards were set up in front of 
the palace, and splendid preparations for the 
visitor were made in all the streets. In the 
harbor were seen gayly decked galleys and 
yachts, prepared to accompany the ceremony 
with the firing of guns. 

At seven in the morning the bride waited 
upon the Empress to be dressed for the mar- 
riage. Elizabeth placed on her unpowdered 
hair a small crown of diamonds. The bride's 
gown was silver-glace bordered with gold. She 
looked enchanting, more beautiful perhaps than 
ever she looked before or after. At ten the 
bridal procession left the palace for the church. 
Cuirassiers, guards, dragoons and hussars ac- 
companied the 120 magnificent equipages. The 
Empress rode with the bridal pair in a car- 
riage drawn by eight horses. "The procession," 
said the English ambassador, "was the most 
magnificent that was ever known in this coun- 
try, and infinitely surp)assed anything I ever 
saw." 

The crowd of people on foot was so great that 

181 



the Empress and the bridal pair did not reach 
tlie chnrch until one o'clock. There, with ex- 
traordinary pomp the ceremony took place. 
In the course of his remarks the confessor of 
the ducal pair said: ''I perceive the finger of 
Providence in the union of these two." 

Masquerades, balls and fircAvorks followed, 
and "amid the most joyous festival that ever 
took place in Europe," as the Princess of Zerbst 
wrote to her husband, the most unhappy of 
royal marriages was solemnized. 

Catharine speaks of it thus: 

"My dear husband concerned himself very 
little about me. For my part I yawned and 
was bored." * 

After his marriage the heir to the throne 
continued the same as before; nor did he change 
later. In his 28th year he still played with 
puppets. His passion for playing with puppets 
was only second to his passion for drink. 

Of love or of marital relations there w^as no 
question. Nearly a year passed and Elizabeth 
saw no prospect of the fulfilment of her hope of 
an heir to the throne. At last she felt herself 

* Moncher epoux ne s'occupait nullement de moi, 
mais etait continuellement avec ses valets, a jouer aux 
militaires, les exercant dans sa chambre ou cliangeant 
runiforme vingt fois par jour. Je baillais, je m'ennuy- 
ais." * * * Memoires. 47. 

182 



constrained to provide the Grand Duchess with 
an extra lady in waiting for the purpose of 
"promoting conjugal intimacy between their 
Imperial Highnesses." * . 

A cousin of the Empress, Madam Marja 
Ssimonovna Tschogolof, was chosen for this 
delicate post. She was young, scarcely twenty- 
four, very pretty, and at that time virtuous. She 
loved her husband and had a number of chil- 
dren. She was therefore fitted to teach by ex- 
ample. 

*The instructions given to this lady were as follows : 
"Wliereas Her Imperial Highness the Grand Duchess 
has been chosen to be the worthy spouse of our dear 
nephew, His Imperial Highness the Grand Duke and Heir 
of this Empire, and has been elevated to her present dig- 
nity of Imperial Highness, witn the intent and hope 
that Her Imperial Highness, by her discretion and virtues 
would incline his heart to a sincere love and would 
thereby bestow upon the Empire thewished-for heir and 
successor to our most High Imperial house ; as this, 
however, cannot be attained without the groundwork of 
mutual affection and conjugal intimacy, especially with- 
out a complete conformity to the character of the Prince, 
we cherish the gracious hope that Her Imperial High- 
ness, bearing in mind that her own hapisiuess and welfare 
depend thereon, Avill not fail carefully to consider this 
important object and for the accomplishment of it will 
on her side use the utmost complaisance and every pos- 
sible means. Yourself Ave most strictly command to be 
zealous in using every occasion to remind Her Imperial 
Highness and earnestly to urge upon her and engage 
her to consort with her husband in a manner the most 

183 



Catharine, however, was not to blame for the 
existing relations.* She said in speaking of 
the Grand Duke: "S'il avait voulu etre aime la 
chose n'aurait pas ete difficile pour moi." 

That Catharine was naturally inclined to her 
conjugal duties and fitted for the performance 
of them was afterwards sufficiently proved. 

The kind of husband that Peter was is illus- 
trated by the following circumstance w^hicli 
occurred in the fifth j^ear of his married life. 
He fancied a Princess of Courland, with regard 

friendly and affectionate, to encourage him by com- 
plaisance, consideration, love, friendship and ardent de- 
votion, and in general to do everything to prevent a 
certain coldness, to avoid wounding him, and thereby to 
procure for herself and her husband the sweetest life and 
to us the wished-for fulfilment of this, our useful moth- 
erly purpose, and to realize the heartfelt wish of all our 
true subjects. To this end you are to use the utmost 
care to promote to the greatest possible degree intimate 
acquaintance and good understanding and the most sin- 
cere and lasting affection and marital confidence." ■•* * * 
See Bilbassoff, History of Catharine the Second, Vol. I, 
265. 

*In regard to her childlessness Catharine expressed 
herself with sadness in a letter of the 24th of April 1774 
to Madam von Bjelke (Magazine of the Russian Histori- 
cal Society VII, 100). See Catharine's Memoirs 117,162. 
Castera speaks of an "imperfection" of Peter's (see Life 
of Catharine I, 49). Bruckner who weighs everything 
so carefully, is of the opinion that Castera's statement 
coincides with the facts' 

184 



to whom Catharine concealed as best she could 
her indignation and wounded vanity. One 
night when she had retired and had just fallen 
asleep the Grand Duke entered, in a state of 
hilarious intoxication. He began dilating 
on the charms and beauty of the Princess of 
Courland, and as Catharine did not respond 
and was about to fall asleep again, he boxed 
her ears and then retired, content and happy. 

In spite of his infirmity he did not wish to 
be behind his courtiers in the matter of in- 
trigues.* His first "love" was the Princess 
of Courland. This inclination was short-lived; 
she gave place to a Miss Schapiroff who again 
made way for a Miss Teploff. Lastly Elizabeth 
Romanovna Woronzoff appeared, whom Catha- 
rine speaks of in her memoirs as the favorite 
Sultana. As Peter showed himself foolish in 



*TIie question whether Catharine not only tolerated 
but promoted Peter's love affairs has been much con- 
tested. See de la Marche: Nouveaux memoires ou an- 
ecdotes du r^gne et du detronement de Pierre III. Ber- 
lin et Dresde 1765. 22.5. The brother of Elizabeth Ro- 
manovna "Woronzoff has remarked in his autobiography 
that Catharine tried to control Peter's choice of his mis- 
tresses and to rule them ; when Schapiroff became too 
independent, Catharine replaced her by "Woronzoff, and 
when "Woronzoff acquired too much power she sought 
to remove her. Archiv des Fiirsten "Woronzoff, 20-21. 
Bruckner 42-43. 

185 



everything, so he chose as the partners of his 
amours the ugliest women of the court. Eliza- 
beth superabounded in ugliness. She was 
pockmarked, thick-set and dumpy, and with 
out intelligence or animation. Nevertheless 
she exercised the greatest influence over Peter. 

It is easy to understand that Catharine did 
not feel drawn toward such a husband as this. 
In a letter to a friend she thus expresses her- 
self with regard to the unhapy Queen Caxoline 
Matilda of Denmark. "Nothing can be worse 
than to have a child for a husband. I know it, 
and it is my opinion that when women do not 
love their husbands it is the fault of the latter. 
I would have loved mine if it had been possi- 
ble, and if he had the goodness to desire it." 
In a journal of the year 1761 we find the fol- 
fowing: "A man who shows enmity toward 
us and withholds from us our due, severs the 
bond between us and cancels the obligation 
which this bond lays upon us," an expression 
aimed directly at her husband and which 
shows how deeply her feelings were aroused 
against him. 

It was deplorable, and it was nothing bet- 
tered when they ascended the throne. The 
gulf between them went on widening. In a 
manifesto published by Peter the day he be- 

186 



came Emperor, not the most distant mention 
was made of Catharine. Not much of a trust- 
worthy nature is known as to the personal re- 
lations of the imperial pair. The Empress 
came every morning to the Emperor's cabinet 
but remained only a moment. At dinner she 
did not appear at the table; in her place came 
the Countess Woronzoff who had been made 
lady of the bedchamber, not however to the 
Tzarina ; her apartments joined those of the 
Tzar. 

Breteuil, the French Ambassador, wrote to 
his government in January, 1762: "When 
we went to offer our congratulations we found 
the Tzarina looking very much dejected. It 
is evident that she will exercise no influence, 
and she is, I think, trying to arm herself with 
philosophy. But her character is not adapted 
to it although she often assures me of the con- 
trary. The Emperor has redoubled his atten- 
tions to Woronzoff. She resides at the Court 
and is treated with the greatest distinction. A 
most remarkable choice, it must be confessed." 
At another time he wrote : "The position of 
the Empress is cruel. She is treated with the 
most conspicuous contempt. She endures the 
conduct of the Emperor and the arrogance of 
Miss A¥oronzoff with great patience. I cannot 

187 



but believe that the Empress, whose courage 
and violence of character I know, will sooner 
or later be driven to some act of desperation. 
She has friends who if she wished it would 
dare everything for her. * * * 'pj^^g Em- 
press is winning universal favor. No one 
shows more zeal in paying the last duties to 
the deceased Empress. She observes with the 
most scrupulous exactness all the anniversaries 
and fasts, the rules for fasting, and everything 
of that nature, which the Emperor treats lightly, 
although they are not matters of indifference to 
the Russian people. In a word, she neglects 
nothing that tends to please, and pays too 
much attention to everything that is conducive 
to that end for self-love not to have a share in 
it. She is not a woman to forget the threat 
that was so often in Peter's mouth when he 
was Grand Duke, that when he became Em]3e- 
ror he w^ould shut her up as Peter the First 
had shut up his wife. All this, joined to daily 
humiliations, must be fermenting in a brain 
like hers and only waiting the opportunity to 
burst forth. * * * The health of the Em- 
press is so broken by grief and anxiety that 
the worst is to be feared." 

The antagonism between Catharine and 
Peter became more and more evident. Bre- 

188 



teuil wrote : '•' The Empress has courage both 
of soul and mind and is as much respected as 
the Emperor is hated and despised." And 
again : " The Empress is subjected to personal 
insults from her husband, which she answers 
only with respect and tears. The people suffer 
with her and do not spare their unavailing 
good wishes." 

The English Ambassador, Keith, who was 
in general more favorably disposed to Peter 
than his contemporaries, writes of the position 
of Catharine at this time : " It does not seem 
that the Empress has thus far often been asked 
for her opinion, or that she enjoys much con- 
sideration." * * * gi-^Q ^{^ yj^qi appear at 
the court balls, and Mercy reported that "she 
does not wish to witness the disorderly and in- 
decent conduct tliat prevails, and remains shut 
up in her room where she spends her time bit- 
terly weeping." 

This may have been true, but that the cause 
assigned was the correct one, may be doubted. 
Catharine had long since ceased to be a prude. 
It was not long after this that her son, by 
Orloff, the future Count Bobrinsky, was born. 

The memoirs of the jeweler, Pauzie, throw a 
sharp flash of light on the married life of the 
imperial pair. Pauzie says the Emperor for- 

189 



bade him to deliver anything to tlie Empress, 
although at this time Catharine did not make 
heavy demands for ornaments, she often wanted 
for necessaries, and was entirely without pocket 
money. Peter carried his petty hatred so far 
as to forbid the gardener to supply her with a 
particular fruit which she liked. Naturally 
the court ladies no longer showed her the re- 
spect due to their sovereign. 

Count Hordt, in his " Memoirs of a Swedish 
Gentleman," tells how upon one occasion while 
he was conversing with Catharine the Empe- 
ror drew him abruptly away and led him to a 
table where he was carousing with Miss 
Woronzoff. Hordt remarked that Catharine 
exhibited on the occasion much tact, l)ut could 
with clifhculty conceal her "deep dejection." 

At a grand dinner given by Peter in honor 
of the peace concluded with Prussia, he sent 
his adjutant to ask Catharine why she did not 
respond to the toast he had proposed. " I did 
not think it necessary," answered Catharine. 
The answer enraged him and he struck her in 
the face across the table. Every one was stu- 
pefied and Catharine burst into tears ; but 
recovering herself quickly she conversed with 
her neighbor in an animated manner as if 
nothing had occurred. 

190 



Such were the relations of the imperial pair, 
while the influence of Miss Woronzoff increased 
daily. Her credit was such that even at for- 
eign courts, and especially at the Court of 
Berlin, great efforts were made to secure her 
favor. Goltze wrote to his sovereign : "It 
would be greatly to the advantage of Your 
Majesty if you would present Miss Woronzoff 
with a bouquet of diamonds in the form of an 
espalier." That was too costly a tune for 
Frederick the Second. He answered the Am- 
bassador wittily in his own handwriting : 
" Where, diable, would you have me get bou- 
quets of diamonds the size of espaliers? Do 
you not know that my country is ruined?" 

Great as appears to have been the influence 
of Miss Woronzoff, it was far from being as 
great as that of the favorites of the former 
Txarinas, or of Catharine the Second, and it 
was not injurious to the Empire. A woman 
cannot under the government of a man, even 
the most despicable of men, obtain such power as 
a man may under the government of a woman. 
Elizabeth Romanovna received from the Tzar 
only insignificant presents. While the favorites 
of Elizabeth and Catharine the Second filched 
hundreds of millions from the people, Eliza- 
beth Romanovna obtained only an insignifi- 

191 



cant landed estate, a ^ew diamonds, and a 
house of which Catharine deprived her after 
the murder of Peter. 

So infatuated was Peter with Miss WoronzofF 
that he wished on her account to repudiate his 
wife. Everything was at stake for Catharine. 
It was necessary to act promptly. 

Peter became more and more odious, his 
mistress grew every day more insolent and the 
Emperor abandoned himself to the most scandal- 
ous excesses with her and with other "ladies," 
smoking and drinking with them until they 
dropped under the table. By the side of prin- 
cesses were to be seen wenches and dancing 
girls who were invited to take part in these 
orgies, and when the former remonstrated, Peter 
answered : "there are no distinctions of rank 
among women." 

The Russians had endured with patience 
Elizabeth's debaucheries because they respected 
in her the blood of Peter the Great, but with 
Peter the Third, a foreigner, a Holsteiner, they 
began to show themselves restive. They were 
anxious to be rid of the Emperor and Catharine 
found her task easy. 

She was more crafty than he. While he, the 
Emperor of Russia, wounded his people by his 
exaggerated love for Germany, she, the German- 

193 



born princess showed herself always the most 
uncompromising of Russians. She was care- 
ful to observe all the orthodox ceremonies, and 
never absented herself from church. If she 
met a beggar she had for him words of solace ; 
the soldiers she addressed in friendly terms 
and offered her hand to the lowliest to kiss. 
Withal she exhibited the most touching pa- 
tience. She was seldom heard to complain, and 
thereby excited still more the popular interest 
and compassion. Only at times at a public 
festival, the long pent up tears would seem in- 
voluntarily to overflov/ her beautiful eyes. 
The comedies thus played by her were better 
than those she wrote, and won a more signal 
success. 

Catharine found her accomplice in the Prin- 
cess Dashkoff, one of the most interesting 
figures of her epoch. She was the beautiful* 
sister of the ugly Elizabeth Romanovna Woron- 

* She is reputed to have been very beautiful, although 
Diderot, who, however, it must be said, saw her in her 
latter years, has not drawn a brilliant picture of her 
personal appearance. He says : "The Princess is not in 
least beautiful. She is small, has an open brow, round 
puffed-out cheeks, eyes neither small nor large and rather 
deep set, dark hair and brows, a rather flat nose, a large 
mouth, thick lips, a long round neck of the national type, 
a broad chest and not much of a figure. Her movements 
are without grace." He further says that the Princess 

193 



zoff, and like her was reared at her uncle's 
house. The following account of her marriage 
will illustrate the energy of her character. 

Prince Dashkoff was paying his court to her 
at a ball in a rather lively fashion, when she 
suddenly called to her uncle, the Grand Chan- 
cellor : 

" My dear uncle. Prince Dashkoff has just 
done me the honor to ask for my hand." 

Dashkoff was struck dumb with amazement, 

informed him that the revolution of 1763 was ahnost 
accomplished before Catharine had any suspicion of it ! 

The Princess was a revolutionary enthusiast, in that 
day a phenomenon. At the age of nineteen she entered 
the field of politics like a veteran diplomat. To her 
more than to all the rest who took part in it combined,.is to 
be attributed the successful issue of Catharine's revolu- 
tion. 

Madam Dashkoff became subsequently the Director of 
the Academy of Sciences, and amusing anecdotes are 
told of her parsimony in this position. In the winter 
she would not permit the salons to be heated, although 
she exacted the regular attendance of members at the 
meetings. Many renounced their membership sooner 
than be forced to listen for hours to scientific discussions 
in an ice-house. She attended them herself wrapped in a 
number of fur robes. She appeared to regard savans 
in the light of soldiers, and to have the disposition, like 
Peter the Great, to enforce education with the whijx 
She left memoirs which were first published in 1757 in 
London by Alexander Herzen, and subsequently in 
Hamburg by Hoffman & Campe. In spite of their vain 
garrulousness they are well worthy of perusal. 

194 



but he did not dare to say to the Grand Chan- 
cellor and favorite of the Tzarina that he was 
merely paying his compliments to the lady 
and was not thinking of marriage. Immedi- 
ately the young lady receive i congratulations 
on all sides, and before the Prince knew it he 
was married. After the event, however, he 
showed himself the master and sent his wife 
to reside at Moscow.* 

Very soon after Elizabeth Romanovna Wo- 
ronzoff became the mistress of Peter, the Prin- 
cess returned hastily from Moscow to reap the 
benefits of her sister's liaison. 

Catharine, aware of the ambition of the Prin- 
cess Dashkoff and that she was panting to play 
an equally important role with that of her 
ugly and nevertheless influential sister, had 
little difficulty in winning the young Princess 
to her cause. Sister against sister. Empress 
against Emperor, these were the foremost char- 
acters in the play of intrigue which met with 
a swift success and ended in the downfall of 
Peter and his mistress. 

One day the Emperor, accompanied by his 
"chubby Woronzoff," as the Russian Pompa- 
dour was styled, while on the way from his 

*TIie Princess informs us that she made a love mar- 
riage and that the Prince was infatuated with her. 

195 



pleasure palace Oranienbaum to a ball at Peter- 
hof, learned that his wife, who had been resid- 
ing there, had suddenly disappeared. While 
the Emperor was rioting with his mistress 
Catharine had gone quietly to the capital and 
set the revolt regularly upon the stage. Before 
Peter could take in clearly what was happen- 
ing, and while he and Woronzoff were express- 
ing to each other their astonishment, a mes- 
senger arrived, dispatched by a faithful servant 
with the news that the guards had revolted 
and that Catharine had been proclaimed the 
reigning sovereign. 

Instead of making a bold and final attempt 
to save himself, the Tzar crept timidly under 
his mistress's skirts, and on receiving a 
summons from Catharine to abdicate, he in- 
stantly complied, requesting only that he and 
Woronzoff might be permitted to leave the 
country unmolested. 

The few who had thus far remained faithful 
to him soon deserted this ridiculous figure, and 
instead of being permitted to quit the country 
he was brought to Ropscha, the estate of Gregor 
Orloff. ' For company, he was given by his own 
request his physician Luders, his violin, his 
negro Narcissus, and his favorite dog. He was 
murdered at Ropscha on the 5-16 of July, in 

19G 



which event Alexis Oiioff bore tlie principal 
part. 

The chubby Woronzoff relapsed into the 
obscurity out of which the Emperor's caprice 
had raised her to the steps of a throne. She 
was taken to Moscow and married later the 
Brigadier Poljansky. 

It has often been assumed that Peter was 
murdered by Catharine's order, as evidence of 
which it is alleged that she showed no conster- 
nation upon being informed of it. For that, 
however, there was no cause. There is no rea- 
son, to question the accuracy of the account of 
this occurrence which Princess Dashkoff has 
given in her memoirs. She says : 

" If any one is malicious enough to impute 
to the Empress a participation in the murder 
of her husband, or even a knowledge of it, 
absolute proof of the injustice of such a suspi- 
cion is to be found in a letter stilh extant from 
Alexis Orloff to the Empress, written by his 
own hand a few minutes after the horrible act 
was accomplished. The style and disconnect- 
edness of it, even when allowance is made for his 
state of intoxication, show the horror and frenzy 
of his mental condition as he implores her par- 
don for his act. This important letter was pre- 
served by Catharine with great care in a casket 
of valuable papers which Prince Desborodko 
after the death of the Empress examined by 

197 



Paul's orders and read aloud. When he had 
concluded the reading Paul made the sign of 
the cross and exclaimed:' God be praised! every 
doubt which I entertained as to the conduct 
of my mother in this regard, is dispelled.' The 
Empress and Miss NelidofF were present on 
the occasion, and the Emperor ordered that 
the letter should also be read in the presence 
of the Grand Duke and of Count Rostopschin. 
To those who honor the name of Catharine 
nothing will be more grateful than this discov- 
ery, and although I did not need the evidence 
for my own conviction, still no other circum- 
stance of my life has given me greater satis- 
faction than the certainty that a document such 
as this exists, capable of silencing forever the 
foul slander which would stain the reputation 
of a sovereign who with all her weaknesses was 
incapable even of entertaining the thought of 
such a crime." 

Peter died uncrowned. Thirty-five years 
after liis death Paul caused his coffin to be 
opened and the body to be solemnly crowned.* 

*Memoirs of the Life and Eeign of Peter the Third. 
Dorpat 1763. Lebensgeschichte Peters des Dritten 1762. 
Frankfurt and Leipzig. Jean Goebel, Fragmens his- 
toriques sur Pierre III. et Catharina II. History and 
anecdotes of Peter III, by de la Marche, London, 1776. 
Comte de Hordt, Lettres sur la Russie par un Gentil- 
homme Suedois. Merkwiirdige Lebensgeschischte des 
ungllicklichen Russischen Kaisers Peter III. Anekdoten 
zur Lebensgeschichte des Filrsten Orlow. Interrcssante 
Lebensgemahlde, von Samuel Baur, V. Coxe, Reise 

198 



durch Polen, Russland. Zurich, 1785. Histoire de 
Pierre III, imprimee sur un manuscrit trouve dans les 
papiers de Montmorin ancien ministre des affaires 
etranfijires et compose par un agent secret de Louis XV. 
a la cour de Petersbourg. Suivie de I'liistoire des 
amours et principaux amaus de Catharine II. Paris an 
VII. Saldern, Biograpliy of Peter the Third from an 
uupartisan examination of the Revolution of that period. 
Petersburg, 1800. Biographic Peters des Dritten (von 
Helbig), Tlibiugeu, Cotta, 1808. Russische Anecdoten 
oder Briefe eines teutschen Offiziers an einen Livlundi- 
schen Edelmann. Wansbeck, 1765. Rulhiere, Anec- 
dotes sur la revolution de Russie en 1762. Paris, 1807. 
Feyerliche Dankrede des Erzbischofs von Gross-Now- 
gorod auf die Entthronung Peters III. Wien, 1763. 
Briefe Peters III, an Friedrich den Grossen. Russkaja 
Starina, 1871-3. Oeuvres posthumes de Frederic IV 
tome. Du peril de la balance politique de I'Europe. 
Memoires pour servir a I'histoire de Pierre III, par Mr. 
D. H. Extraits de I'histoire de Pierre III, Avee plusieurs 
anecdotes singulieres. Urkunden and Materialien zur 
Kenntnis der nordischen Reiche, 1786. Allerneueste 
geheime Nachrichten vom Russische Hofe, 1766. 
Bulau, geheime Geschichten und rathselhafte Menschen 
Leipzig, 1863, Bd. I, 1-58. See in addition the works 
quoted upon Elizabeth and Catharine the Second. 



199 



CATHARINE THE SECOND AND HER 
FAVORITES. 



Catharine's marriage. — Her first intrigue with Ssaltykoff, 
her husband's chamberlain. — The birth of Prince 
Paul. — Ssaltykoff's fall. — Poniatowski becomes Cath- 
arine's favorite. — The discovery of this relation. — 
Poniatowski's banishment. — Gregor Orloff. — His 
great power.— Project of marriage to the Tzariua. — 
His fall. — His and Catharine's children. — Alexis Or- 
loff, the murderer of Peter the Third. — A recruit, an 
officer and a nobleman, favorites of the Tzarina. — 
The functions of a favorite. — His duties and his pay. 
— Potemkin becomes favorite — His tyranny over the 
Tzarina. — His end as favorite. — Potemkin becomes 
minister. — His death. — Other favorites : Savadovsky, 
Soritsch, Korsakoff, Lanskoi, Jermaloff, Mamonoff 
and Suboff. — Catharine's end. 



CATHARINE THE SECOND was not only 
the most famous, but also the most dis- 
solute princess of her time. An account of all 
of her liaisons would be irksome ; I will confine 
myself to the most prominent. 

200 



The court, the nobles, the burghers and the 
lowest classes, all were m a state of the most 
complete moral dilapidation. Love adven- 
tures, if the term may be applied to the most 
revolting libertinism, played the principal role 
at this Court, and at the head of this debased 
society was the Empress herself. The young 
Grand Duchess had not only before her eyes 
accidental and unpremeditated examples of 
licentious manners — her attendants, and the 
companions chosen for her, were women of the 
worst reputation. The Grand Duke was him- 
self constantly occupied with his amours, for 
notwithstanding his physical unfitness to be a 
husband, he was sensually attracted toward 
such women as he made the companions of his 
debauches. It often happened that Catharine 
and the Grand Duke's mistresses encountered 
each other, and scandalous scenes would ensue, 
the mistresses acting in an insolent manner 
toward the wife. In such a Court and under 
such conditions Catharine would scarcely have 
remained pure and innocent had she been as 
modest and good as an angel, and this she was 
not. She early learned the art of dissimula- 
tion, and became more proficient in the practice 
of it than any one else at the Court. She had 
also more need of it. In her relations with 



201 



her mother, the Empress, and her husband, the 
utmost caution and dissemhhng were necessary. 
Every step must be calculated, every action 
cunningly weighed, all open-heartedness sup- 
pressed. The Grand Duke busied himself with 
hanging rats and playing with puppets. Cath- 
arine was vigorous and had need of physical 
activity. She took refuge in riding and danc- 
ing, which only strengthened her and aroused 
still more her sensual nature. 

We need not wonder that she fell, but rather 
that she remained virtuous so long. 

The marital relations of the Grand Duke 
and Grand Duchess were no secret at the Court, 
and in such circumstances many dared to lift 
their eyes to the unhappy Grand Duchess. Al- 
though at first they were repulsed, there were 
many who suspected her of secret relatious with 
this person or that. Those accustomed to that 
atmosphere of the lowest immorality could not 
believe that the wife of such a husband lived 
without intrigues. Catharine had been so long 
suspected that she began to believe in her own 
guilt, and launched out finally in the career 
of vice. 

It is characteristic that when Elizabeth, was 
informed of Catharine's first confidant, a cham- 
ber lackey, Tschernyschoff, she promoted him 

202 



to be an officer and sent him to Orenberg. The 
day that Tschernyschoff was removed, the Em- 
press charged Madam Tschoglokoff with the 
task of promoting conjugal intimacy between 
the Grand Ducal pair. 

Madam Tschoglokoff was not however equal 
to the occasion. She not only did not promote 
conjugal intimacy, she did not even remark 
that under her very eyes the courtiers were 
one after the other falling in love with Cath- 
arine, and that one after the other was success- 
ful in winning her favor, her own husband 
being amongst those who prostrated themselves 
at Catharine's feet. 

In 1749 the court of the Grand Duke was 
at the poor little palace of Rajevo. Here Count 
Kirill Rasumovsky, a brother of Elizabeth's 
favorite and husband, often came to visit. 
When Catharine asked him what brought him 
so frequently to their wretched nest, he an- 
swered : ''Love." 

"But with whom can you be in love here? 

"With whom? With you." 

Catharine says in her memoirs twenty years 
after in recalling this episode : "I laughed 
heartily, for I had never in the least suspected 
that he could be in love with me." 

She soon heard more of it. 



203 



On one occasion Tschoglokoff, the husband 
of her overseer, fell at her feet and poured out 
his ardent passion ; but he was ''too stout, too 
stupid and too impudent, with a mind as heavy 
as his body, and I silenced him." Sachar 
Grigorjevitch Tschernyscheff met with better 
success. He was young, witty, animated and 
neither stout nor impudent, and he pleased 
Catharine. He understood the art of soft 
flattery, he sent her tender verses, and he did 
not find her insensible. Once she tells us, "he 
begged me to grant him an interview in my 
chamber or some other place. I answered that 
it was quite impossible, my chamber was in- 
accessible and I could not leave it. He said 
he would disguise himself as a servant, but I 
positively refused." And she assures us that 
this ended the matter. This seems improbable 
in view of the passionate letters which have 
been discovered adressed by her to Count 
Sachar Grigorjevitch. At all events a predis- 
position to gallantry was awakened and the 
next one was not refused. 

This was Ssergey Ssaltykoff, the friend and 
chamberlain of the Grand Duke. 

Although quite young, Ssaltykoff had already 
numerous adventures behind him. He was 
a hero as regards the conquest of women ; in 

204 



such warfare he shrank neither from the heat 
of battle nor from patient endurance, and did 
not hesitate to enter the lists either with the 
most virtuous of wives or the discreetest of 
maidens. If, however, in the neighborhood 
of the lady he was storming a protector or an 
avenger rose up, he quickly vanished and 
sought precipitately a place of safety. 

Ssaltykoff had married for love a pretty lady 
in waiting to the Empress, named Matrjona 
Pawlovna Balk. But he no sooner found him- 
self in the place of chamberlain to the Grand 
Duke than he fell in love with Catharine, upon 
observing how unhappy in her marriage was 
the pretty Grand Duchess. He remarked how 
she was dying of ennui at Oranienbaum, which 
place Elizabeth had assigned to the young 
couple for a residence, he knew" that nature 
had not fitted her for a life of c{ui^^ contem- 
plation but had inclined her to activity, pleasure 
and excitement, and believed himself capable 
of enlivening and contenting her. He induced 
the Grand Duke to give balls, busied himself 
in arranging entertaining programmes, and 
was careful wdien the Grand Duchess expressed 
her pleasure and surprise, to designate himself 
as the author of these amusements, designed 
• expressly for her. 

205 



This pleased the Grand Duchess. 

At a concert at the residence of the overseer, 
Madam Tschoglokoff, Saltykoff poured out his 
ardent passion. But the affair dragged, and 
wishing to bring matters to a crisis Saltykoff 
feigned the necessity to depart on a journey 
and showed the strongest emotion, even wept, 
in prospect of the separation. Catharine was 
affected by the comedy, asked why he must 
go, begged him not to remain long absent, 
confessed her love, and the "bond of noble 
souls" was formed. 

Wishing to be left undisturbed with her 
lover, when the Grand Duke was about to 
make a journey to St. Petersburg she feigned 
illness and Peter went alone, leaving behind 
him his friend and chamberlain Saltykoff. For 
Catharine's illness he was the best physician. 

Ssaltykoff gradually forgot to be prudent, 
and the affair began to attract attention. The 
virtuous Empress Elizabeth discovered the re- 
lation and became very indignant, but Cath- 
arine succeeded in assuaging her wrath. The 
watch kept by Madame Tschoglokoff had 
profited nothing. Meanwhile the latter her- 
self caught the contagion and fell in love with 
Prince Ivan Petrovitch Repnin. Happily for 
tlit^ enamoured Madam Tscholokoff, her hus-- 

206 



band soon after died and left the lovers a clear 
field. 

Alexander Ivanovitch SchuvalofF, a near 
relative of Elizabeth's favorite, was chosen to 
fill the place of the Grand Duke's late seneschal. 
It was not a very happy choice for Catharine, 
who was then pregnant by Ssaltykoff. Not 
only on his own account, but by reason of the 
position which he held as the head of the im- 
perial inquisitorial court, called the " secret 
chancery," Alexander Schuvaloff was the terror 
of the court, the city and the whole empire. 
In addition to this his personal appearance was 
repulsive, and he had a nervous twitching of 
his face which caused him to make the most 
horrible grimaces. 

Toward the end of August, 1754, Catharine 
was apj)roaching her confinement. Little atten- 
tion appears to have been paid to her. She 
was then residing with her husband at the sum- 
mer palace at St. Petersburg where she had two 
rooms in a remote part of the palace ; two long- 
bare and scantily furnished rooms, and here, on 
the 20th of September, Paul Ssergewitch — I 
ask pardon — Petrovitch, was born. The child, 
the wished for heir, was immediately taken 
from the young mother and the latter was left 
quite alone and neglected in the sick chamber, 

207 



while the Grand Duke drank with his lackeys 
and mistresses. While the Empress occupied 
herself with the infant Catharine groaned and 
wept, but no one paid any heed to her. 

After the baptism of the Prince the Empress 
came one day at last into the apartments of the 
Grand Duchess, bringing her on a gold platter 
a present of a hundred thousand rubles and a 
necklace, rings and earrings. Catharine was 
delighted with the money, for she had many 
debts, but of the ornaments she remarks in her 
memoirs : "I would have been ashamed to have 
made such a present to my chambermaid." 

Moreover, her delight in the money was 
short-lived. Four days after, the secretary of 
the Empress came to her, saying : " In heaven's 
name lend me the money for the Empress." 
Catharine reluctantly consented and never saw 
it again. 

Immediately after Paul's birth his real father 
Ssergey Ssaltykoff was sent to Sweden.* 

*Catlierine asserts in her memoirs that Elizabeth was 
accessory to her relations with SsaltykofE in order ro 
provide a "'lawful" heir to the throne. The heir had 
appeared, and Ssaltykoff must disappear. Memoires 169, 
170. See Blum, J. J. Sievers IV. 267. JaufEret I. 79. 
Briickner, 42, thinks that Catharine in making this asser- 
tion was playing a trump card against Paul to deprive 
him of the succession. 



The banishment of her lover caused Catlia- 
rine the greatest distress. She was in despair, 
and for weeks did not quit her chamber. It 
was not until the fortieth day after the birth of 
the Prince that she made her appearance. She 
says: " Je le trouvai fort beau et sa vue me 
rejouit un pen." But she saw him for a mo- 
ment only, for he was taken away from her by 
Elizabeth. 

This solicitude of Elizabeth for the child and 
her disregard of the mother put the latter out 
of humor, and gave rise to reports that Catha- 
rine's child had been exchanged for a child of 
Elizabeth's. Catharine again found herself 
alone as before, with neither the love of hus- 
band or child to occupy her and driven more 
and more to illicit love. Ssaltykoff, it is true, 
returned from Sweden, but was immediately 
sent to Hamburg and not permitted to remain 
in St. Petersburg. 

At first Catharine was inconsolable, but 
learning that Ssaltykoff had found solace in 
other women she followed his example.* He 

* " Environ ce temps-la j'appriscommequoi laconduite 
de Serge Saltikoff avait ete peu mesuree. Outre cela il 
en avait conte a toutes les femmes qu'il avait rencontrees. 
Au commencement je ne voulais rien en croire mais a la 
fin je I'entcndis repetcr de tant de cotes, que ses amis 
memes ne purent le disculper." Memoires da I'impera- 
trice Catherine He. Londres 1859, 240. 

209 



had proved himself unworthy of her love, and 
she began to look about for some more worthy 
object. 

She did not look long. 

In the beginning of July, 1775, the English 
ambassador. Sir Charles Hanbury Williams, 
arrived at St. Petersburg and presented him- 
self at the Grand Duke's Court at Oranien- 
baum. In his suite was Count Poniatowski, a 
Pole, young, amiable, clever and good looking. 
"In appearance only Ssaltykoff could be com- 
pared with him," said Catharine, " and in mind 
he was his superior." The Count had no 
sooner seen the Grcind Duchess than he fell 
in love with her, and he understood so well the 
art of being tender and captivating that he 
found Catharine an easy prey. 

It was one of Catharine's characteristics that 
she did not desire her lovers to risk anything 
in obtaining access to her. Disguising herself 
therefore as a man she went herself boldly on 
winter nights to the English Embassy. After 
this had been often repeated, it became neces- 
sary to contrive a new and less dangerous tryst. 
The opportunity was furnished by Peter him- 
self. 

The Grand Duke, who had apparently as 
little suspicion of the new liaison of his wife "^"^ 

310 



he had of the old one, was so completely cap- 
tivated by Poniatowski's artfully feigned ad- 
miration for Frederick the Great, that he found 
his society indispensable, and when the Polish 
government suddenly recalled the Count to 
Warsaw, the Grand Duke bestirred himself to 
cause him to be sent back to St. Petersburg. He 
was successful. Poniatowski obtained the posi- 
tion of Polish Ambassador to the Russian 
court, and Peter had now once more his con- 
genial companion, and Catharine her lover. 

In the night of the 8-9 of December, 1757, 
Catharine became aware that she was about to 
be delivered of a child. The Grand Duke, 
Count Schuvaloff, and the Empress were noti- 
fied. In a short while the Grand Duke pre- 
sented himself in the uniform of a Holstein 
officer, with boots, spurs, scarf and sword. 
Catharine, astonished, asked what all that 
parade meant at such an hour. Peter the 
Foolish answered : 

" Real friends can be known only in im- 
portant moments. In this uniform I will 
fulfil my duty as a Holstein officer and protect 
the house of Holstein, according to my oath. 
You are ill, Imperial Highness ; I have has- 
tened to render you assistance." He was 
drunk. Twenty-four hours later a girl was 

211 



born, who was called Anna, and incorrectly 
styled Anna Petrovna. 

The Grand Duke knew already that Cath- 
arine was not his wife alone. Catharine assures 
us that he once said in presence of the court : 
" Dieu salt ou ma femme prend ses grossesses ; 
je ne sait pas trop si cet enfant est a moi et s'il 
faut c|ue je le prenne sur mon compte." 

Nevertheless, he feigned great satisfaction at 
the child's birth, and sent express messengers 
to his relatives to inform them of the "joyful '' 
event. 

Not long after, his suspicions being aroused 
and having become watchful of the Pole's good 
fortune, he surprised him in the company of 
the Grand Duchess disguised as a hair dresser. 
But his wrath was short-lived. Catharine 
represented to him that a ]3ublic scandal would 
be incompatible with his dignity, and reminded 
him that he was not himself a pattern of con- 
jugal fidelity but maintained open relations 
with Woronzoff, and Peter the Foolish was 
base enough to acquiesce and allow^ Catharine 
and her gallant to go free, and, so far as he 
was concerned, matters went on as before. 

Not so mild in her judgments, however, was 
the virtuous Elizabeth. She insisted upon 
banishing Poniatowski from the Court. Ho 

213 



returned to Warsaw, and led for some time an 
obscure existence. But when Catharine, with 
whom he was in constant correspondence, 
became sovereign, his good fortune returned 
and the period of his fame began. 

Although Catharine had since Poniatowski's 
l)anishment given her heart away several 
times, she had so much feeling still left for the 
handsome Pole that it was for a time believed 
she would rnarry him. It did not come to 
that, however, Ijut to console him for not giv- 
ing him her hand she rewarded her lover with 
the sovereignty of his native country. Neither 
before him nor after him has any princess 
bestowed so dazzling a reward for so obscure a 
service. 

The parvenu showed himself altogether un- 
worthy of a throne, and no one can feel 
much compassion for the contemptible destiny 
procured for him by the same Empress who 
had raised him so high. 

Poniatowski was indebted for his successful 
career to nothing but his beauty. He passed 
for one of the handsomest men of his day. 
He had a stately figure, an affable and insinu- 
ating address, and much goodness of heart. 
His character was weak, almost timid ; he was 
unequal to any high undertaking, fitted only 

213 



for the petty life of a court and the society of 
vohiptiious Avomen. He was, therefore, a 
favorite of fortune so long as he moved in the 
sphere to which he was adapted, but he met 
with swift shipwreck when he attempted to 
guide a great ship of state. * 

The immediate successor of Poniatowski in 
Catharine's favor was Gregor Orloff. An Orloff 
had already :listinguished himself in the reign 
of Peter the Great. The following anecdote is 
related of- him : 

When Peter was punishing the revolt of the 
Streltzi it happened that a j^oung man belong- 
ing to this daring militia, named Ivan Orell 
(John the Eagle), when his turn came to lay 
his head on the block put aside with his foot 
the head of a comrade which was in his way, 
remarking: "I must make room for myself 
here." Peter, who was usually present at 

'^ Ou November 15, 1795, Stanilaus Augustus was com- 
pelled to abdicate the throne, which he had in fact only 
tilled for Catharine. The Russian Government under- 
took the payment of his debts of three millions of ducats, 
and gave him a pension of two hundred thousand ducats, 
of which Prussia and Austria contributed forty thou- 
sai)d. Until the death of Catharine he remained in 
Grodno. Paul I summoned him to St. Petersburg, where 
he passed his last days peacefully enough in the circle of 
the Imperial family and in the society of his compeers. 
He died on the 13th of February, 1798. 

214 



executions, was so much astonished at this 
humor of the gallows that he pardoned the 
young man and placed him as a common sol- 
dier in a regiment of the line. Ivan rose by 
his courage to the rank of officer and noble. 

His son in his thirty-fifth year married a 
girl of sixteen, and in spite of this advanced 
age became the father of nine sons, the second 
and third of whom were Gregor and Alexis 
Orloff. Both were uncommonly handsome, an 
advantage which at the St. Petersburg court 
opened up to them a brilliant career. 

Count Peter Schuvaloff the master of ord- 
nance, who was vain and ostentatious, wished 
to have as his adjutant the handsomest officer 
that could be found. Gregor Orloff then serv- 
ing in an artillery regiment was presented to 
him. He pleased the general and was given 
the position. SchuvaloflP had now not only the 
handsomest officer for his adjutant but the 
most beautiful woman in the capital, the Prin- 
cess Jelena Stepanovna, for his mistress. The 
most beautiful woman fell in love with the 
handsomest man, and the mistress and adjutant 
amused themselves behind the General's back 
until the betrayed lover surprised them and 
brought the tender idyl to a sudden close. 
Orloff was driven out of the house, charges of 

215 



malfeasance were brought against him, and his 
banishment seemed certain. 

But his mischance was the occasion of his 
good fortune. His adventure became known 
in the city and reached the ears of Catharine. 
She wanted to see the handsomest officer and 
was not long in bringing about a meeting. As 
it was difficult for any one to be brought unob- 
served into the palace she went in different 
disguises to Orloff's residence. 

In a letter to Voltaire Catharine described 
Gregor Orloff as a " hero who deserved to be 
classed with the noblest Romans of the Repub- 
lic." In a letter to a female friend she spoke 
of him as the " handsomest man of his time, 
one upon whom Nature has lavished gifts both 
of head and heart, possessed of knowledge, 
penetration, quick comprehension and a smooth 
address." 

Catharine had already formed a project for 
getting rid of Peter and seizing the govern- 
ment. She communicated her plan to Orloff, 
who became her willing accomplice. 

A number of officers were in the habit of 
assembling at Orloff's house to drink and car- 
ouse. They were good comrades and ready to 
render one another a service. For this reason 
Count Orloff was a lucky prize for Catharine. 

21G 



Ho was not long in bringing over the officers 
to her side by painting the sufferings of the 
beautiful Grand Duchess and arousing on her 
behalf their enthusiasm and self-sacrificing 
devotion. Gregor's house, which had been a 
place of sensual orgies, now became a centre of 
revolution. How the revolution was conducted 
and its successful issue are familiar to history. 
Soon after Peter's pusillanimous abdication 
and murder, initiated by Gregor and completed 
by Alexis Orloff, the Tzarina's favorite was 
openly proclaimed and formally established in 
the palace and beside the throne. After the 
example of the lovers of former Tzarinas he 
was provided with a numerous suite of apart- 
ments near those of the Empress, raised to the 
rank of count, presented with the highest orders 
and most lucrative employments, and for years 
enjoyed alone the privilege of wearing the por- 
trait of the Empress at his button liole. It was 
set in an enormous brilliant, a "table diamond" 
in the form of a heart. It is needless to add that 
his wealth reached the sum of millions. The 
magnificent Stegelmann palace in St. Peters- 
burg, afterwards the residence of Koscziusko, 
the estates and palaces of Gatschina andRopscha, 
now owned by the Emperor Alexander, and 
numerous estates in Livonia, Esthonia and in 

217 



the interior of Russia, became the property oi 
OrlofF. His power equalled that of a regent. 
He had the privilege of signing drafts upon 
the treasury to the amount of a hundred 
thousand rubles. 

But all this did not content him. His ambi- 
tion climbed still higher ; he wanted to be liot 
only the favorite of the Empress, but her 
husband, her lord, to be Emperor, and Cath- 
arine was so entirely under his influence 
that she consented to marry him and announced 
publicly her intention. But a number of her 
councilors opposed the adventurous project 
and it was finally abandoned. To indemnify 
Orloff she increased his revenues and conferred 
upon him the rank of Prince. But at last 
his pretensions grew intolerable. He publicly 
boasted of Catharine's indebtedness to him for 
her throne, and that it was in his power to 
dethrone her, and the Empress now began to 
look about her for a convenient opportunity 
to get rid of him. 

In 1771 the pestilence broke out at Moscow 
and swept away a hundred and fifty thousand 
people. The Empress decided to send her 
favorite to that city with the hope of allaying 
the panic, not perhaps Avithout the secret wish 
that he might never return. But Orloff toolv 

218 



with him a skilful physician and returned safe 
to St. Petersburg after a successful visit. The 
Empress was compelled to feign great joy. She 
had a medal struck off representing Orloff as 
leaping like a second Curtius into the breach, 
and caused a marble momument to be erected 
after the Roman fashion at Zarskoje-Selo to 
commemorate his courageous visit to the 
pestilential city. 

The Empress was now driven to look for 
another pretext for effecting Orloff 's removal. 
She sent him to Fochschang, a small town in 
Wallachia on the confines of Moldavia, where 
a congress was sitting to conclude a peace with 
Turkey. His progress was that of a monarch. 
He was attended by marshals, chamberlains, 
pages, servants, and numerous equipages. His 
kitctien and wines were of the choicest, his vest- 
ments glittered with gold and silver. Cath- 
arine indulged the hope that his absence would 
be long. But a courier arriving with despatches 
from St. Petersburg brought the information 
that the Empress was amusing herself with 
other lovers during his absence. Orloff recog- 
nized the snare and without a moment's delay 
got into a simple kibitke and travelled day and 
night until he reache 1 St. Petersburg. 

The Court was informed of his return and 

210 



Catharine sent a messenger to meet him and offer 
him the palace of Gatschina as his residence. 

Orloff was rendered desperate in the prospect 
of losing not his mistress but his power, and 
furious that he had permitted himself to be 
duped. He was a prisoner at Gatschina, where 
he consumed himself in unavailing rage. 
Meanwhile the Empress in her palace was 
scarcely less a prisoner than he. So great was 
her terror of him that it was difficult to quiet 
her alarm. "You do not know Orloff, he is 
capable of murdering me," she groaned inces- 
santly. She had her door barred and ordered 
her groom of the chamber to keep incessant 
watch with a pistol. 

The government at last decided to enter 
upon negotiations with the ex-favorite and 
endeavor to arrive at an agreement. But Orloff 
was immovable. He refused absolutely to 
resign his position as the Tzarina's lover. The 
latter attempted to propitiate him with the 
present of a million. He bluntly refused it.* 

In spite of the fact that Orloff was unable 
to gain access to her and that he was strictly 

^Bruckner contents himself with remarkiug discreetly 
couceruing this "crisis : " "It is impossible to furnish a 
particular account of it; it will suffice to say that the 
Empress made Orloff sensible of his disgrace." No, that 
is not enough. 

220 



guarded in his palace, the Empress lived in a 
state of perpetual terror. As a last resource 
she threatened him with imprisonment for life 
on his estate at Ropscha; but on the other 
hand, if he would yield and consent to resign 
his post of favorite, he would be suffered to re- 
tain his title with a yearly pension of a hun- 
dred and fifty thousand rubles, and to go 
wherever he pleased with the exception of St. 
Petersburg and Moscow. Again Orlofii' refused 
his consent to the offered terms and answered 
the threat of confinement at Ropscha with dis- 
dain. 

An attempt was now made to pronounce him 
insane, and to place him in security. Yielding 
to force he suffered himself to be removed to 
the imperial pleasure palace of Zarskoje-Selo. 
Here he lived comfortably, assembling around 
him many of the most distinguished persons of 
the Residence-city. But one day he escaped 
while the guards were sleeping and w4th all 
secrecy made his way to St. Petersburg. 

Catharine's terror when the dreaded Orloff 
appeared before her is not to be described. But 
the former favorite pardoned the " ungrateful " 
Empress and made his peace with her. He 
voluntarily relinquished his position of lover 
and was in return restored to all his dignities 

221 



and received a yearly stipend of a hundred and 
fifty thousand rubles, six thousand serfs, a sil- 
ver service made in France worth two hun- 
dred and fifty thousand rubles, and a marble 
palace which was afterwards acquired by the 
Government and made an imperial residence. 
In gratitude for the Tzarina's generosity he 
abated four hundred and sixty thousand of the 
millions, and purchased for her the enormous 
diamond which had made a part of the treasure 
of Nadir Shah and which is still the property 
of the Russian crown. He also devoted a por- 
tion of the money to the building of an arsenal 
at St. Petersburg. 

But his peace of mind did not last. He had 
endeavored to console himself for the loss of his 
position as favorite but the. contrast of his 
former power with his present insignificance 
weighed upon him. He tried to divert himself 
by travel, was now here, now there, passed a 
while at Moscow and then returned to St. 
Petersburg. At the latter place he married a 
young lady of the court named Ssinovieff, a 
relative of his mother. Catharine was de- 
lighted, and presented the bride of her former 
favorite with a gold toilet of inestimable value. 

The young Princess Orlofif was an excellent 
lady and exercised over her husband a great 

222 



and favorable influence. But she did not long 
survive her marriage, and Orloff again plunged 
into a life of dissipation. He was soon after 
seized with a wasting disease which ended in 
insanity. He was haunted by visions in which 
he continually saw the bloody form of Peter 
the Third, and lived in a state of frenzied 
terror. But his sufferings did not last long. 
In April, 1783, the man who for twelve years 
had held the place of favorite to the exacting- 
Catharine breathed his last. Contemporaries 
have not drawn a very unfavorable picture of 
his character. He possessed intelligence, cour- 
age, resolution, and goodness of heart, and 
showed himself, especially during the latter 
years of his life, to be a man of more than 
usual probity for Russia. 

Catharine had by Orloff seven children. The 
best known of them was the son born in 1762, 
called Basil Gregojevitch, who received after- 
wards the sobriquet of Bobrinsky. He was 
startlingly like his mother in appearance, with 
the fierce and dissolute character of his father. 
Shortly after his birth he was placed in the 
charge of Schkurin, a stove-heater and later 
chamberlain and councilor, and was brouoht 
up by him until he entered the land cadet 
corps. The mask was then allowed to fall and 

233 



it became an open secret that Basil Gregorjevitch 
was the son of the Empress and Orloff. The 
Empress gave him a milhon rubles, but imi- 
tating his prodigal fether Bobrinsky threw his 
fortune into the streets, especially the streets of 
Paris. He was deprived of it in consequence 
and received instead a yearly pension of thirty 
thousand rubles. Paul I conferred on him 
the title of count.* 

Another son of Orloff and the Empress was 
Galachtheon. He became an officer but died 
young in London in consequence of excessive 
dissipation. A third son died in- childhood. 
Two daughters of Orloff and Catharine were 
brought up in St. Petersburg; one of them 
married Count Buxbovden, the other a Herr 
Klinger. 

Orloff had at the time of his connection with 
the Empressf other affairs with ladies of the 
court. When Catharine discovered this she 
threw off all restraint. Alexis Orloff, a 

*Wilh reference to Bobrinsky see : Catharine's letters 
to him, Russ. Archives 1876. III. 13. Oastera II. 35. 
Helbig, Rassische Gtlnstlinge 364. Bobrinsliy's diary of 
the year 1779, Russian Archives 1877, III. 117. See Ko- 
marowsky's Memoirs in the " Eighteenth Century," I 
393. 398. 401. 

tHe had a liaison with the Princess DashkofE which an- 
tedated that with the Empress. 

224 



brother of Gregor, especially, was already in 
high favor on account of the part which he had 
taken in the revolution. He divided with 
Gregor the posts of dignity in the Empire. But 
a tranquil court life did not satisfy his ambition, 
and he obtained from the Empress the com- 
mand of a fleet to be employed against the 
Turks. He was given the command of the 
Russian squadron in the Archipeligo and re- 
ceived dictatorial powers which rendered him 
unaccountable to authority and permitted him 
to employ the fleet in any undertaking he saw 
fit. The expedition proved nothing more 
than a showy comedy which cost a large sum 
and was altogether unprofitable. He made a 
few insignificant conquests which were re- 
stored to the Turks after the close of the war.' 
Only one of his exploits gained him renown 
and consideration, or Avas celebrated by the 
Russians. This was the burning of the Turk- 
ish fleet at Tchefsme, in honor of which he 
received the name of Tchefsemenskoy. The 
vain victor took the utmost pains to hand down 
this achievement to posterity. The painter 
Philip Hackert was employed to portray the 
scene in accordance with Orloff''s description 
from four diff'erent points of view. In order to 
bring the horrible spectacle forcibly before the 

225 



eye of tlie painter the admiral caused a ship of 
war to be blown up in the harbor of Leghorn. 
The paintings, which succeeded admirably, are 
in the possession of the imperial house. 

When Gregor Orloff lost his position of lover 
to the Empress the latter sent a messenger to 
Alexis Orloff forbidding him, also, to appear 
in St. Petersburg, and this order was not re- 
scinded until years after, when she received 
the victorious admiral with tardy but all the 
more distinguished honors. At the theatres 
plays in verse were produced written expressly 
for his glorification in which Peter the Great 
and Catharine the Second figured. Medals 
were struck off" representing him as the god of 
war, and at Zarskoje-Selo marble monuments 
were erected in memory of his " famous ex- 
ploit," and — last, not least — enormous wealth 
was showered upon him. 

But his day of glory was ended. Other stars 
were shining in the Emj^ress's firmament of life 
and love. Orloff felt himself reduced to ob- 
scurity, and asked for his dismissal, which was 
cheerfully accorded him. He lived in retire- 
ment at Moscow until Paul ascended the throne 
and remembered him. 

Soon after Paul's accession he summoned Count 
Alexis Orloff" to St. Petersburg for the purpose of 

226 



removing the remains of Peter the Third from 
the cloister of Alexander Newsky to the fort- 
ress. This was perhaps the most horrible day 
of Alexis Orloff's life. A few weeks later, he 
quitted Russia and did not return until after 
the murder of Paul. He died in Moscow in 
1808, leaving a legitimate daughter and a nat- 
ural son. The latter inherited his father's 
figure and his beauty, and was also for a short 
while accorded moments of intimacy by the 
now waning Catharine. 

The two Orlotfs brought their numerous 
brothers and cousins to the court. Ivan Gre- 
gorjevitch Orloff, the oldest of the brothers, 
became a subaltern in the guards, distinguished 
himself in the revolution of 1762, was made a 
count, and received large estates and the yearly 
pension of twenty thousand rubles allotted to 
all the leaders in the conspiracy. The fourth 
Orloff, Theodore, did not take a direct part in 
the revolution, but had nevertheless as an 
Orloff a good share in the prizes. Having 
distinguished himself in the Turkish war he 
was superabundantly feted and rewaTded. He 
died at Moscow at the close of his ninetieth 
year. Vladimir Orloff, the youngest of the 
brothers, was educated at Leipsic, and upon 
his return the lad was made director of the 

237 



Academy of Sciences and chamberlain. Pei • 
sonally insignificant though he was, his rev- 
enues reached the sum of a hundred and thirty 
thousand rubles. Of the other four brothers 
Orloif little is known ; they doubtless also fared 
well. The cousins and other relatives obtained 
good positions, but are not deserving of special 
notice. 

The Orloffs, brothers and cousins, formed a 
splendid court of their own at St. Petersburg 
where they shone by reason of their beauty, 
their love of pleasure and the riches which the 
Empress showered upon them. They gave 
splendid entertainments and scattered treasures 
among the people with lavish hand. At no 
other court of the day was such prodigality 
to be witnessed. 

During the reign of the brothers Orloff the 
lovers of Catharine were comparatively few 
and unimportant, but a recruit who came from 
a village to St. Petersburg whom she chanced 
to see pleased her so much that instead of 
placing him in a regiment she placed him in a 
livery. He was employed near her person 
until the affair came to the notice of Gregor 
Orloff, and the servant was made captain in 
a regiment. The Empress afterwards succeeded 

228 



ill bringing him back to the capital and gave 
him a high office in her household. 

The affair of an officer named Wissensky did 
not prosper equally well. The Empress was 
so enamored of him for a time that it seemed 
as if the fortune of the obscure young officer 
might rival that of the Orloffs. But Wis- 
sensky's dream was short. He was abruptly 
dismissed and dispatched to a distant province. 

Alexander Wassiltschkoff, a nobleman who 
was chosen by the Empress in 1772, retained 
his position longer. He remained twenty-two 
months by the side of the Empress, and was 
the most modest and disinterested of her lovers. 
He excited no malevolence, for he helped all 
and stood in the way of none. He made no 
large demands on his own account, nevertheless 
he received a hundred thousand rubles in specie, 
seven thousand serfs, sixty thousand rubles 
worth of diamonds, a silver service of the value 
of fifty thousand rubles,and a magnificent palace 
worth four hundred thousand rubles. He mar- 
ried and lived in Moscow the happiest husband 
in the world. 

All of the Empresses of Russia had had 
lovers, but none raised the number of them so 
high as Catharine the Second. She changed 
them every twenty-four hours, or oftener. The 

229 



position of a lover was a public office ; the 
highest, most lucrative, and withal the most 
entertaining — at least so long as Catharine re- 
tained her beauty — which existed in Russia. 
The cjualifications for the office were a hand- 
some face, a fine figure, and above all great 
physical vigor. 

The newly elected favorite was first made 
adjutant-general. This enabled him to attend 
tlie Empress everywhere without attracting 
observation. He occupied communicating 
apartments in the palace. 

Shortly after his induction into office he 
received a hundred thousand rubles, and once 
every month he found twelve thousand upon 
his night table. The steward was charged 
with the duty of serving him with twenty-four 
covers, and of superintending his housekeeping. 
The favorite must not leave the house without 
the permission of the Empress. It goes with- 
out saying that he must not approach other 
ladies. The Empress, on the other hand, re- 
tained the right to have numerous transieni 
lovers simultaneously with the declared 
favorite. Each as he fell out of favor was 
richly endowed and was ordered to travel and 
never to appear again in the presence of the 
Empress. This order only Potemkin disobeyed. 

330 



The Eussian people and the government 
officials grew accustomed to this procedure. 
They came in time to regard it as natural that 
the Empress should divert herself with lovers 
after the severe cares of government, and the 
frequent changes were not viewed with dis- 
pleasure. The example of the Orlofib had 
taught how dangerous a prolonged liaison 
might become. It was therefore always sought 
to provide her with insignificant persons and 
to fill their places very soon by others. But it 
happened that this supposed insignificance con- 
cealed such a genius as Potemkin. 

Gregor Potemkin was born at Smolensk in 
1736 — according to some, at Warsaw in 1743 — 
and received as the son of a retired officer a 
modest education. He was first destined for 
the church, but developing a military talent 
he was sent to St. Petersburg, and because of 
his fine figure was placed in a regiment of the 
mounted guards. On the accession of Peter 
the Third he became master of the watch, and 
was among those who were won over to the 
cause of the Empress. After the revolution 
he was made an officer and groom of the 
chamber, and was sent to Sweden to announce 
the accession of the new sovereign. 

Upon his return he was one day employed 

231 



as a guide to the carriage of the Empress. 
When about to withdraw at the end of his 
service his horse became refractory and refused 
to move from the spot. The Empress looked 
up. The young officer was handsome, very 
handsome. She said : " Your horse is more 
cunning than you.'' 

He understood the glance and wink, and a 
determination to become the favorite took root 
in his mind. At that time the brothers Orloff 
were at the height of their power, nevertheless 
Potemkin was not discouraged. He succeeded 
at an unguarded moment in obtaining access 
to the Empress, and was confounded by his 
good fortune. He vaunted it aloud, and 
boasted in the presence of Alexis Orloff of 
the favor he enjoyed. Orloff answered him 
disdainfully, angry words ensued, and Po- 
temkin received a blow in the face which 
put out one of his eyes. The cause of the 
scandal became public, and the end was that 
Potemkin was sent, first to the army, and 
afterwards to his home. Here he lived for 
some time in sullen solitude, entertaining the 
idea of becoming a monk. Suddenly it 
occurred to him to write to Catharine, which 
he did, pouring forth his ardent love and long- 
ing, and begging to be received into favor. 

233 



The Empress, who meanwhile had got rid 
of the Orloffs, recalled him at once to the court. 
He now obtained a complete ascendenc}' over 
her and used and abused it to the utmost. 
He made constantly increasing demands upon 
her, and after the example of Biron beat her 
if she dared to refuse him anything. Finally 
he, like his predecessor, aspired to her hand. 

With this object in view, this greatest of 
roues suddenly became the most pious man in 
the capital. He denied himself his celebrated 
kitchen and lived on vegetables and water, 
confessed every day to the Empress's confessor, 
to whom he confided his intimate relations 
with the Empress and the uneasiness of his 
conscience which he could not reconcile to this 
illicit connection, imploring him to prevail 
upon her to consent to a consecrated union. 
The favorite supported his pious pleadings with 
glittering gold and deceitful promises. 

The heart of the priest was not of stone, 
neither were his pockets sewed with a thousand 
threads. With tears in his eyes he conjured 
the Empress to abandon her life of sin and 
reconcile herself with God by a holy marriage 
bond. The shrewd, freethinking Catharine 
sent for Potemkin. With the tenderest accents 
she said : 

333 



" I love you ; nevertheless, I am prepared to 
give you up sooner than imperil the salvation 
of your soul. If you cannot continue to be my 
lover without dreading the judgment of 
Heaven, go — I will take another." 

The pious Potemkin was dismayed. He 
protested his willingness to forego marriage 
and retain his position as lover. But Catharine 
soon after supplied his place by others, and 
ordered him, according to custom, to travel. 

Potemkin feigned to obey ; but the following 
day he returned to the palace and seated him- 
self unconcernedly in the presence of the Em- 
press, She evinced no displeasure and retained 
him at the court. 

Then began between Catharine and Potemkin 
a relation unique of its kind. Love is dead, 
live friendship. In the character of friend of 
the Empress, Potemkin became more powerful 
than ever, and, having lost her love, retained 
her unbounded confidence for the remainder of 
his life. It was he who provided her with new 
and ever new lovers, who as his creatures 
exerted themselves in his behalf so that his 
influence remained unshaken and after his 
liaison was at an end he continued still the 
most powerful man in the Russian Empire. 
The treasures lavished upon him were incal- 

234 



culable. His favorite amusement was to lie 
upon a couch and toss his jewels into the air 
with one hand, catching them with the other. 
This he called " playing cateract." At a dinner 
given in honor of his mistress, the Princess 
Dolgorouky, diamonds were served at dessert. 
He had a room furnished after an odd conceit 
of his own of which he always carried the key 
with him. It contained book shelves with 
numerous divisions as for a library. These 
were all well filled with volumes in quarto and 
octavo ; but the leaves of these books consisted 
of bank notes. 

Like Meutschikoff the favorite of Peter the 
Great and Catharine the First, he had his own 
court, with numerous officials and servants, 
which was not behind that of the Empress in 
brilliancy and prodigality. The profusion of 
his entertainments was beyond description. To 
procure melons or flowers for his mistresses, he 
sent couriers the distance of many hundred 
versts, to Astrakan or to Paris, to Poland or to 
Taurida. His dishes were of the rarest, his 
wines the most costly. The court chapel of the 
Prince provided the music, and in the pauses 
the most melodious songs were sung by the 
most beautiful songstresses, '' Here," says an 
admirer of Potemkin who must have taken 



235 



part in these fetes, " was found the only oppor- 
tunity to see the Prince free from cares and in 
his most condescending moments ; for although 
the majestic exaltation of Potemkin inspired 
every one with awe, he met each of his guests 
in the most condescending manner and without 
distinction." 

At the close of the repast, which never lasted 
more than two or three hours, the Prince con- 
versed with the guests, after which cards were 
played. The cards were not of gold but of 
precious stones. While the games were in 
progress all was still as in a chamber of death. 
There was nothing but playing ; no one dared 
to speak. 

Still more brilliant than his dinners were 
Potemkin's balls, which must have cost at least 
a hundred thousand rubles. Generals and 
diplomatists were invited from all quarters. 
In 1779, on the occasion of the birth of Paul's 
daughter Catharine, Potemkin prepared a great 
fete. He had splendid buildings and a dancing 
hall erected on his estate of Oserki on the Neva, 
and a floating temple on whose facade and 
spires sparkled the names of the members of 
the imperial family. Supper was served in a 
grotto the exact counterpart of a grotto in the 
Caucasian mountains, ornamented with laurels 

236 



and roses and a painted waterfall. A choir 
sang songs in ancient Greek. 

But all the previous fetes were cast into the 
shade by one given by him a short while before 
his death, on the 28th of April, 1791. Artists 
and artisans were busily employed in the house- 
decorations and new furnishings, gobelin tap- 
estries and carpets were woven for the occasion ; 
two hundred large lustres and the most costly 
mirrors were brought from the city and sixteen 
thousand pounds of wax for illuminating. The 
glass lanterns took the form of every variet}^ of 
fruit and flower. Free tables were set for the 
populace, and garments and shoes were pre- 
pared for distribution at the moment the Em- 
press appeared. From early morning the people 
were peering stealthily at the beautiful objects, 
but a rumor ran that any person who intruded 
before the appointed hour would be sent to the 
army, and they waited peacefully and quietly 
until their hour should come. Suddenly the 
news spread that the Empress had arrived. 
Then there was no waiting. No one wanted 
to be left in the lurch, and all rushed precipi- 
tately upon the viands and presents ; hopeless 
confusion reigned, and not until force was used 
could the plunderers be dispersed. 

This was a prelude. Gradually the guests 

237 



assembled ; arriving last of all, the Empress. 
It is difficult to form a conceptiou of the sump- 
tuousiiess of this fete. Most splendid of all 
was the dancing room. Seventy -four couples 
in fancy costume opened the dance amid the 
singing of songs composed by Deschawia in 
praise of the Empress, and sung by invisible 
voices, the singers being concealed in secret 
galleries : " Mahomet is vanquished, the Don is 
in the hands of the Russians, from Ismael their 
dying groans have been heard. The Empress 
is like unto Minerva, Potemkin unto Mars, 
Alexander, the grandson of the Empress, may 
be likened to Alexander the Great, his brother 
to the great Constantine, the restorer of Byzan- 
tium. The might of ancient Rome and the 
radiance of Hellas are united under the sceptre 
of Russia." 

The dances, which were original, were created 
after the design of Potemkin by the famous 
masters La Picci and Canziani, who received 
for the evening, respectively, six and five thou- 
sand rubles. Near a wonderful clock of pecu- 
liar mechanism and ingenious striking ma- 
chinery, which cost forty thousand rubles, stood 
a Persian puppet on the back of an artificial 
elephant, and by striking on a bell invited the 
guests to witness a play, "The False Lovers," 

238 



and a pantomime, " The Merchant of Smyrna," 
the latter representing a slave market, in which 
all the characters were slaves excepting — the 
free Russians ! 

Night came on. In the gardens all was 
ablaze. Fourteen thousand lamps and twenty 
thousand candles illuminated the scene. In- 
numerable fruit trees entranced the eye, but 
their fruits, so natural and delusive, were of 
glass. Artificial also was the softly shimmer- 
ing turf, artificial the grottoes with mirrors 
which reflected everything a thousand fold. In 
the middle of the garden gushed a fountain of 
lavender water, and near it sparkled a pyramid 
of gold and precious stones, and these were 
real. Strange singing birds warbled in marvel- 
lous nests. In the sky-blue temple supported 
on marble columns stood a statue in marble of 
the Tzarina veiled in purple, in her hand a 
horn of plenty from which fell treasures of 
gold coin and costly orders, and underneath 
the inscription : "The Mother of the country, 
my Benefactor." Potemkin, wearing a frock 
of crimson red and a scarf of rare lace, a hat of 
precious stones so heavy that an adjutant was 
employed to sustain if, prostrated himself on 
the steps of the temple and repeated lines pre- 
sumably of his composition : "Que puis-je 

339 



t'offrir en hommage ? Je suis moi-meme ton 
ouvrage. Mon pouvoir et mon sort son sortis 
de ta main." 

Upwards of thirty thousand persons were 
present at this fete, the cost of which must be 
reckoned by the hundred thousand. For 
candles alone seventy thousand rubles were 
expended. The Prince himself was the most' 
hilarious person present. It was a common 
observation of his that for a man to be adequate 
to his destiny pleasures and enjoyment were 
as essential as food. 

But it often happened that the caprice of the 
host occasioned disagreeable interruptions to 
these fetes. The Prince, but a moment ago in 
high spirits, would suddenly show the utmost 
ill humor. The most frequent cause of the ill 
humor of this "Exalted" person, as Potemkin 
was customarily styled, was given by his mis- 
tresses, who were recruited from among the 
most beautiful women of the time and naturally 
awakened at a public ball the admiration of 
others besides their lord. These frivolous ladies 
did not always show themselves indifferent to 
some one or other of the gay gentlemen who 
sued for their favor, or even perhaps bestowed 
a larger share of their affection upon him than 
upon their elderly proprietor. If this came to 

240 



the notice of Poterakin he flew, in a rage, to 
the faithless one, tore off her head (U^ess and 
turned her contemptuously out of doors. Some- 
times he was so much enraged as to suspend 
the fete and dismiss his guests, but in the course 
of a few hours, repenting that he had made his 
wliole company responsible for the sins of his 
faithless mistress he despatched messengers to 
recall them in haste and the ball would con- 
tinue as before. That this was endured is an 
index of the epoch. From the omnipotent 
Potemkin everything was borne with patience. 
The magnates of the Empire crawled in tlie 
dust at his feet, even the successor to the throne 
trembled in his presence. 

That he was an extraordinary man cannot 
be denied. Yet his rule was one that could 
only have been played in Russia, and only in 
the Russia of Catharine the Second. In him 
were blended the most opposite qualitie:*.. By 
the side of his great prodigality grinned mock- 
ingly the extremest avarice. His despotism 
and hardness were equalled only by his arrog- 
ance and his ambition v,'as only exceeded by 
his skill in the art of flattery. He squandered 
millions on his mistresses and remained in debt 
for beggarly trifles. No one was so superstitious 
and no one so crafty as he. He had great 

241 



imaginations, and boldly launched forth into 
well nigh inconceivable enterprises. No hin- 
drance deterred him from reaching his goal ; 
hut when reached, he lapsed into a state of 
lethargy and satiety, and did not avail himself 
of what he had won. He created for himself 
numerous offices and became a burden upon 
the country, yet he was indispensable to it, and 
when he died he left a void which could not 
be filled. He carried an enormous load upon 
his shoulders, such as no one but him could 
have borne ; but he derived no satisfaction from 
his various employments, the ambition to reach 
out after something new robbed him of con- 
tentment and peace. All in him was disorder 
and unrest ; his activity, his conduct, his 
character. Where he was, there was inquietude; 
to see him was to dread his caprices. He cared 
for few persons, and for these in his own way. 
Whoever flattered him was welcome ; whoever 
contradicted him was his mortal enemy. He 
forgot the good that was done him, but he 
never forgot the evil. He promised much, but 
performed almost nothing. 

No one, jDerhaps, has filled so high a place 
who possessed so little education, yet he had an 
extensive knowledge of all subjects. The want 
of study was compensated for by a keen })er- 

243 



ception, a quick comprehension, and a retentive 
memory. He conversed with equal ease with 
a scholar or an artist, a j^riest or an artisan. 
His whims were incredible. To-day he wanted 
to be Duke of Courland ; to-morrow, King of 
Poland. Suddenly he determined to renounce 
the world and retire into a monastery, betook 
himself to penance and mortification, and 
twenty-four hours later he gave one of his 
most extravagant fetes. To-day he wished to 
be a general ; to-morrow, a statesman ; again, 
a simple courtier, a private citizen, or all of 
these combined. He built costly palaces, and 
before they were ready for occupation he sold 
them. At times he remained for weeks in a 
cave with a girl, and could not be prevailed on 
to attend to his duties ; then suddenly would 
appear before the throne decorated with the 
orders of every land, and insist upon the par- 
tition of Turkey ; anon, after driving out in a 
carriage blazing with gold, would hold a recep- 
tion at his residence barefooted, unkempt and 
unwashed. 

He had singular good fortune in war because 
he had the skill to avail himself of superior 
ability. But here also his caprice came into 
play. The capture of Ismailoff by Suvaroff in 
1790 was the result of a wager with a lady 

343 



with whom lie was in love and who visited him 
in his camp at Jassy. The conversation at 
table turning upon the siege of that place, she 
expressed her belief that it would be impossible 
to capture the stronghold. Potemkin an- 
swered : " Madam, I will engage that Ismailoff 
shall be in my hands in twice twenty-four 
hours." " But not without an enormous sacri- 
fice of life." "That is a trifle. Russia has 
plenty of men." Potemkin won the wager, 
which cost the lives of twenty thousand brave 
men. 

It was at Jassy that he established ware- 
houses in order that the mistresses who accom- 
panied him on his campaigns might have the 
opportunity to provide themselves with fine 
and fashionable clothing. It will be seen how 
he thought of everything. 

In waste and desolate places he created towns, 
in order to deceive the Empress on her jour- 
neys as to the value of his conquests. Plis was 
the most inventive brain that ever conceived 
and deceived in Pussia. He has been not 
inappropriately described as the reflected image 
of Russia. He was as overwhelming as the 
Empire ; like it his mind and character were 
filled with fruitful fields beside desert wastes. 
In him Avere united the Asiatic and the Euro- 

244 



pean, the Slav and the Tartar, the medieval 
barbarian and the veneer-like culture of modern 
Half-Asia. 

That he had enemies in abundance will be 
believed. They called him the "Prince of 
Darkness," and characterized bim as the evil 
genius of his country. Once, when the Em- 
press fell ill he surrounded his liousj with 
redoubts and l)astions which he garrisoned 
with his most trusty followers, justly fearing 
for his life in the event of Catharine's death. 
But he had no cause ; he died before her. 

His death was no less strange than his life. 
For a year he had withdrawn from active 
part in affairs and abandoned himself to de- 
bauchery. Suddenly he roused himself and 
hastened off to the frontier. But before he 
reached the army he was seized with a violent 
attack of a disease which had long before been 
brought on by his excesses. Instead of exer- 
cising prudence he gave himself up to de- 
bauchery, his strength gave way, he sank on 
a country road and died an inglorious death 
in the presence of a few attendants, who had 
to drag him to the city in a cloak like any 
beggar. 

Potemkin left a property wdiicli would have 
enriched a state. Besides bank notes of all the 

245 



trading centers of Europe, amounting to un- 
told millions, he possessed an incalculable 
treasure in diamonds, silver, gold and porce- 
lain ; he left also over three millions of debts. 
His heirs were five nieces and three nephews. 
To these, especially the former with all of 
whom he had held tender relations, he left 
large bequests. Each of them received twelve 
thousand Polish serfs, the nephews four thou- 
fiand and a third of his personal estate. 

When the news of his death reached Cath- 
arine it plunged her in despair. She had 
accustomed herself to look upon him as the 
stay of her throne ; now she grew tremulous, 
tottered, fell ill and died. 

'' I have no one to lean upon ; no one can 
fill Potemkin's place ; he was never to be 
bought." 

Count Esterhazy who resided at that time at 
the Russian court wrote to his wife : "Since 
the death of Potemkin everything here is 
plunged in gloom. The Empress has not once 
quitted the palace, there is not the the smallest 
court circle ; she has not played cards in her 
room." 

In lier letters to Grimm the Empress de- 
scribed her grief at her loss : " My pupil, my 
friend, almost my idol, is dead," and she made 

240 



over him the most enthusiastic epilogue. "La 
qualite la plus rare en lui etait un courage de 
coeur, d'esprit et d'ame, qui le distinguait 
parfaitement du reste des humains, et ceci 
faisait que nous nous entendions parfaitement 
bien et laissions babiller les moins entendus a 
leur aise. Je regarde le Prince Potemkine 
comme un tres-grand homme, qui n'a plus 
rempli la moitie de ce qui etait a sa portee." 

She had the most profound admiration for 
Potemkin's intellectual gifts, and could not 
dispense with his counsels, of which she felt 
herself in continual need. When he remained 
for years absent in the South she missed him 
terribly, and filled with anxious solicitude for 
his health besought him to spare himself, 
addressed him with all manner of pet names 
such as "little dove," "little soul," "my heart," 
"little father," "my angel," "papa," "dear grate- 
ful pupil," "Rest assured," she wrote in 1780, 
"that my friendsiip for you, my dearest, is 
equal to your attachment for me." At another 
time, "It is desolate without you. When you 
are not by me I seem to myself to be without 
hands." She describes him as "one of the 
drollest and most amusing originals of this age 
of iron." When in 1778 she ordered for him a 
service of of Sevres porcelain she observes that 

347 



it is "pour Ic premier rongeur do doigts de 
I'univers, pour iiion cher et Ijieii aime Prince 
Potenikin, et pour qu'il soit j>lus beau, j'ai dit 
qu'il est pour moi." She cannot say enough 
in praise of his good looks. He, as well as 
Gregor (Jrloff, was "the handsomest man of his 
time." His amiability and liis ideas she 
characterizes as inexhaustible, and praises even 
his good humor (so much for the point of view !) 
in extravagant terms. Finally she observes 
with modesty : "II a plus d'esprit que moi et 
tout CO qu'il faisait etait profondementreflechi." 

But he also understood how during a pro- 
longed separation to keep alive her friendship 
by letters such as these : " ]\Iatuschka, rodnaja 
little mother, dear mother ; Most gracious 
Empress leave me not without news. Do you 
not then comprehend the measure of my attach- 
ment * * * in this state of uncertainty 
anxiety robs me of all my strength. I can 
neither sleep nor eat ; I am worse than a child. 
Necessary as it is to breakup and go to Cherson 
I cannot make up my mind to stir. If my 
life has any value for you let me know at least 
this one thing — that you are well." 

Yes, Potemkin had become all in all to the 
Empress, the prop of her throne, and her most 
skilful pander. When he was forced to vacate 

248 



his post as lover lie took care to provide for 
this important office a creature of his own, 
Peter Savadovsky. 

Peter Savadovsky was the son of a Russian 
priest of the Ukraine. By his father's care 
he had received an education, that is to say 
instruction in latin, history and philosophy. 
He came first to St. Petersburg as a scribe in 
the house of Count Rasumovsky, was by the 
latter recommended to Count Rumjanzof who 
took him into his chancellery, and soon after 
turned him over to the Empress as her sec- 
retary. The Empress was much })leased with 
him and showed him marked favor over every 
one else, with great caution however, to avoid 
exciting the jealousy of Potemkin who was 
still her lover. But when Potemkin was obliged 
to retire, having remarked the direction in 
which the eyes of the Empress were turning he 
was cunning enough to propose Savadovsky as 
his successor, a proposition which was quite 
superfluous but which for appearance sake was 
accepted with thanks. This happened in 
November, 1764. 

Savadovsky was installed in the apartment 
in the palace wdiich Potemkin had occupied, 
and received, although he was still secretary, 
the title of major-general. He did not long 

249 



retain liis position. Attempting to undermine 
the omnipotent Potemkin and to drive him out 
of tlie head as well as the heart of the Empress 
he was himself dismissed. He remained how- 
ever at the court, where he filled important 
positions and was the first after Potemkin who 
was permitted to reside near Catharine after 
having filled the ofiice of lover. Potemkin 
looked around for a successor to Savadovsky 
wishing to anticipate the Empress and prevent 
a choice which might be displeasing to 
himself 

There was a serf residing at the court named 
Soritch, who was a protege of his. This was 
the man. He possessed the requisite qualifica- 
tions of beauty and strength, and he lacked 
intelligence and character, which suited Potem- 
kin very well. He made Soritch his adjutant, 
and presented him to the Empress in the 
uniform, which set ofi" his person well, of a 
lieutenant of hussars. Catharine was pleased 
with the selection, and on the appointed day 
Soritch was assigned to the apjDartments of a 
favorite and occupied them eleven months. 
In the matter of presents he was not less fortu- 
nate than his predecessors. A half million in 
money, twenty thousand rubles for his first 
establishment, eighty thousand for his estab- 

250 



lishment upon an estate, two hundred and 
forty thousand for the payment of his debts, 
and the stated monthly income of a favorite. 
Beside the specie he received fifteen hundred 
serfs and an estate in Livonia worth a hundred 
and twenty thousand rul)les. Finding this 
still too little, Catharine added to it the crown 
revenues for ten years and the office of Com- 
mander of the Order of Malta for Poland, 
which yielded ten thousand rubles yearly. 
Finally the "munificent" sovereign presented 
her lover with the city and domain of Schklow, 
in Poland, which cost four hundred and fifty 
thousand rubles. To attempt to enumerate the 
favorite's treasure in diamonds would be a 
hopeless task. His shoulder straps, his hats, 
even his shoe buckles, consisted of diamonds 
and other precious stones. Who can say how 
much he might have cost the state had he not, 
like Sadavowsky, made the blunder of attemijt- 
ing to belittle Potemkin in the eyes of the 
Empress, Potemkin lost no time in represent- 
ing to her that it was beneath the dignity of 
the most enlightened princess of her time, a 
friend of the greatest and most enlightened 
intellects in the world to permit a man so un- 
lettered as Soritch near her. Catharine was 
astute enough to understand, but as she was 

251 



always disposed for a change of lovers she 
suddenly discovered that Potemkin was right, 
and commissioned liim to give Soritch a more 
worthy successor. 

The court was at tliat time at Zarskoje-Selo. 
Soritch was in his chamber in a hap}>y mood, 
playing with his diamond treasures, when the 
order of the Empress arrived to depart for his 
estates and not undertake to see her again. He 
was compelled to set out that same hour for 
Schklow, where the loss of his position as lover 
was well compensated for by the life of a ])rince. 
He lived Avitli great prodigality, even sup- 
porting a theatre. This continued as long as 
Catharine lived and sent him continually fresh 
reinforcements ; but at last the impure fountain 
dried up and lie l)ecame embarrassed ; was 
oblio-ed to morto-ao-e his estates and part with 
his treasures. At one time it had seemed as if 
Ins star was again in the ascendant. When a 
favorite, Mamonoff, threatened to become dan- 
gerous to Potemkin the latter lost no time in 
brino-ino; about a meeting between Catharine 
and Soritch with the hope of overthrowing 
Mamonotf and reinstating the former favorite. 
Soritch was still handsome and vigorous, and 
pleased Catharine — Init for one day only. He 
was again dismissed witli presents and hurried 



back to Schklow, where he was still living in the 
time of Paul. 

As a successor to Soritch, Potemkin presented 
to the Empress Korsakoff, a captain of cuiras- 
siers ; Bergmann, a Livoniau, and a certain 
Ronzoif, a natural son of Count Voronzoff. 
After conversing with all three Catharine's 
choice fell upon Korsakoff, a guard in her 
ante-chamber whose good looks had attracted 
her attention. Handing him a bouquet, she 
said : 

" Carry this to Prince Potemkin. I wish to 
speak to him." 

Potemkin understood the hint. "As a re- 
ward to the bringerof an imperial present" he 
made the captain his adjutant, and the follow- 
ing day the Empress made him her own adju- 
tant and assigned to him the apartments at 
Zarskoje-Selo which Soritch had occupied. 

Korsakoff had, properly speaking, only 
changed his apartment. Formerly he had kept 
guard in the antechamber ; now he kept guard 
in the sleeping chamber. But he proved un- 
faithful. Catharine surprised him in her ov^-n 
sleeping apartment in the arms of the pretty 
Lady Bruce, one of her ladies in waiting. In 
the first moment she was struck duml} at this 
effronter}", then she laughed, the noble Em- 



press, and — took another. The Countess Bruce 
was permanently banished from the Court, and 
Korsakoff, who had received property and 
presents to the value of a million, and now as 
a parting present received a hundred and 
seventy thousand rubles, followed her, but soon 
after quitted her and lived with the Countess 
Stronganoff-Trubetskoy. 

The great good fortune which attended the 
favorites turned the heads of many persons. 
The ministerial secretary, Ivan Strachoff, an 
uncultured, ill-favored little personage of un- 
couth manners whom tlie Empress on one 
occasion had addressed graciously, conceived 
from that moment the idea of becoming the 
ftivorite. He continually thrust himself upon 
Catharine's path and sought to attract her at- 
tention. He succeeded, and therel:)y procured 
her much amusement. Finding herself alone 
with him, she determined to amuse herself 
with his popinjay notion of captivating her 
favor. She said to him good-humoredly : 

" Ivan Strachoff, ask for something that you 
wish." 

The fellow sank on his knees and cried out 
with all the strength of love : 

'' Your love. Your Majesty ! " 

This was too much. He was not permitted 

254 



again in her presence. But a man who loved 
her so much must not be unhappy, and Cath- 
arine sent Strachoff presents in money, serfs 
and land, with the high order of Vladimir, 
and made him vice governor of Kostrona. So 
Ivan Strachoff had also his share of a favorite's 
luck and without the exacting duties attendant 
upon it. 

Alexander Lanskoi was a nobleman of good 
family, and served in the Chevalier Guard. He 
became known to the Empress while Korsakoff 
was still in favor, and received then an appoint- 
ment as her next " adjutant-general." Being 
at the time in delicate health and often indis- 
posed, he was engaged in advance and given 
the sum of ten thousand rubles for his enter- 
tainment. Lanskoi entered into relations 
with Potemkin, and placed himself under his 
protection. This proved of service to him. 
Potemkin kept Lanskoi with him for a few 
months, and during Holy Week, 1780, he re- 
minded the Empress of him, and her health 
being now restored he entered upon his office. 
In a short while he won a great empire over 
Catharine although affecting to feel himself 
insignificant and without influence, and would 
have trumped them all but for his sudden death 
in 1784 at the age of twenty-seven. He was 

255 



unequal to his position, and the expedients 
which she had liim resort to ended by destroy- 
ing him. 

The Tzarina now, as so often before when a 
lover was torn from her against her will, was 
plungtMl in despair and dissolved in tears 
and lamentations. She remained shut up in 
her chamber all day, would see no one, hear 
nothing ; paid no attention to the government 
or to the country, arraigned herself, arraigned 
Heaven, wanted to abdicate, wanted to die, and 
put on mourning like a bereaved widow. 

Her only consolation was in the society of 
a sister of Lanskoi's who strongly resembled 
him. In this time of deep sorrow and des- 
pondency she wrote to Grimm ; " My happi- 
ness has departed. I shall not outlive this 
grief. I had hoped that my young friend 
would be the stalf of my old age." She ex- 
tolled his capacity, his development, his im- 
provement in knowledge and taste. She had 
brought him up, he was grateful and gentle, 
and shared with her everything. "My sitting 
room, which I so loved," she concludes, " seems 
to me an empty cave, where I wander as a 
ghost ; I am so agitated I can see no one, and 
continually break forth in sobs ; I cannot sleep 
or e^it ; reading wearies me, I have not the 

25G 



strength to write, and do not know what is to 
become of me. I know only that in my whole 
life I have never been so unhappy as since my 
dear friend left me." 

Catharine's enthusiasm for Lanskoi was not 
generally shared. He gave himself little con- 
cern about public affairs, but was an object of 
universal fear. Joseph II. sued for his favor, 
as did Frederick William II. and Gustavus III., 
but he repulsed them all, so great did he feel 
himself. It was a blessing to Russia when he 
died. His cupidity was insatiable. He left 
behind him in money alone more than seven 
millions, not to speak of the many millions 
represented by his collection of pictures and 
medals and his landed estates. Yet with all 
this w^ealth he was so avaricious that he shame- 
fully permitted his nearest relatives to starve. 
He bequeathed his possessions to the Empress, 
who, however, "munificently" gave all to his 
relatives, buying at a high price his collections 
and silver ]3late — to be presented to another 
favorite. 

Lanskoi was buried in the garden of Zars- 
koje-Selo, and the Empress erected over his 
grave a simple but costly monument. One 
night the grave was dug up, the coffin broken 
open and the corpse defaced and covered with 

257 



abusive inscriptions. After tliis Catliarine 
caused them to be placed in a separate mauso- 
leum. 

When Lanskoi died Catharine swore : 
" Lanskoi is the last. Never again shall a 
man's lips touch mine or a man's heart beat 
on mine." She swore it devoutly and solemnly, 
for she believed herself about to die ; but she 
continued to live, and life had claims upon 
her — tremendous claims. 

More than a year passed after Lanskoi's 
death, and, with the exception of a few trifling 
infractions of her vow, Catharine courageously 
withstood everything masculine. Then came 
the reaction. 

She cast her eyes about for a new adjutant- 
general. The Princess DashkofF offered her 
son, a handsome young officer. After an inter- 
view the EmjDress found that she liked him, 
but Potemkin was fearful of DashkofF's influ- 
ence and succeeded in obtaining the dismissal 
of the candidate. 

In his place he proposed a young subaltern 
of twenty-two, Alexander Jermoloff, who found 
ftivor notwithstanding his fair complexion — 
Catharine did not like fair men — and that he 
had an ugly, flat nose. But the long interval 
since Lanskoi was unbearable, and, in her haste 

258 



to make good the loss of time as fast and as fully 
as possible, she did not as before demand good 
looks but took whatever came in her way, and 
thus took Jermoloff, who was ugly and unpre- 
possessing. 

Jermoloff was a distinguished man and well 
liked. He helped whom he could, was as up. 
right as a man in his day could be, and spoke 
the truth when it was necessary. The last- 
named virtue was the cause of his disgrace. 
He exposed some irregularities of Potemkin's, 
and upon the Empress reproaching the latter 
with them, the Prince said : 

" I see whence come these complaints. Your 
white Moor — for so he called Jermoloff, on ac- 
count of his light hair and flat nose — your 
white Moor tells you all that. You can choose 
between him and me." 

Catharine chose, and Jermoloff was dismissed. 

Jermoloff who relatively received few pres- 
ents (in sixteen months about five hundred 
thousand rubles), was succeeded by Alexander 
Mamonoff, lieutenant-captain of the guard. 
He, too, owed his place to Potemkin, who ex- 
tolled the young man to the Empress and 
arranged to send her a picture by him. Her 
criticism of the picture was to be understood 
as expressive of her intentions toward the 

259 



bringer. Catharine did not look at the picture, 
she saw only the bearer, and remarked : " Tell 
the Prince it is a good picture, but I do not 
like the coloring ; in other words, it is good- 
sized but has an ugly face.'.' 

But in spite of the bad coloring Mamonoff 
was chosen and became a personage of import- 
ance. Next to Potemkin, he was the most 
gifted of her lovers. Of course she extolled 
him : " He is an angel, an invaluable man, and 
becomes every day more worthy to be loved." 
He had musical talent, artistic taste, and many- 
sided culture. But he had one defect. The 
elderly Empress did not content him. He 
formed a relation with a Countess Skawronska, 
a niece of Potemkin's. This was pardoned 
him and he made good his fault by increased 
zeal, renounced the Countess Skawronska, 
and — formed a new connection Avitli the Prin- 
cess Schtscherbatoff. Catharine heard of it 
and almost died of jealousy. To be certain, 
she summoned Mamonoff and said to him : "I 
am old, and feel that your future ought to be 
provided for. I will give you a wife who is 
both rich and distinguished." 

Mamonoff then confessed his relations with 
the Princess Schtscherbatoff. 

" It is true, then," exclaimed Catharine, 

200 



scarcely able to stand. Jealousy and mortified 
pride were raging furiously within her, never- 
theless she commanded herself, and — shall we 
say nobly ? — permitted the young man to go 
unpunished. With a few expressions of her 
dissatisfaction to her circle, the unpleasant 
affair was dismissed. " No one can imagine 
what I suffer," she said to some of her intimate 
friends ; " if only he had not so long kept 
silence, leaving me in the dark. But God be 
with them ; may they be happy." She ex- 
pressed more anger in a letter to Potemkin, 
who months before had made up his mind to 
displace this favorite. She now saw that he 
had been entirely right. "I have received a 
bitter lesson," she wrote, " but I put an end to 
the farce as soon as possible." To keep up 
appearances and not give rise to gossip, she 
paid the wedding expenses and made the bridal 
pair handsome presents. In foreign circles it 
was declared that the Empress had been almost 
frenzied. 

Mamonoff was more practical tLan his prede- 
cessor, Jermoloff. On the day of his induction 
into office he received sixty thousand rubles in 
addition to the revenues proceeding from his 
numerous titles and dignities. On each of his 
birthdays and baptism days (he was favorite 

261 



from 1787 to 1789) the Empress gave him a 
hundred thousand rubles, and on several dif- 
ferent occasions over a million. To this must 
be added his estates, which yielded sixty-three 
thousand rubles, the hire of twenty-seven hun- 
dred serfs which he had in Nischny-Nofgorod, 
and his treasures in precious stones. 

Catharine's amours ended with a platonic 
love. Her last lover was named Plato Suboff. 

Plato Suboff was the son of a rich man who 
held a high official position, but had not much 
education. At twenty-two he served in the 
horse guards, and was promptly chosen to fill 
the breach which Mamonoff's sudden exit had 
created. He was the only favorite who suc- 
ceeded Potemkin whom the latter had not 
chosen. Potemkin was at the time absent from 
the capital and the case was urgent. As 
Mamonoff had by an exception to a general 
rule retained his apartments up to the time of 
his marriage, the Empress vacated some of her 
own rooms for the new comer. It astonished 
no one when the next day an unknown young 
man was seen arm in arm with the fat old 
Empress — a tender pair. He walked with 
covered head while behind him waddled all 
the magnates of the Empire, vying with each 
other for a gracious glance from the boy who 

3G3 



yesterday had waited humbly in their ante- 
chambers. 

SubofF was not content with the position of 
lover ; he wanted political significance also, 
and he acquired it fast enough. It was his 
voice that soon decided the most weighty affairs, 
and he would have doubtless superseded 
Potemkin had the latter been still alive. 

Suboff accumulated vast riches. On the first 
day he received thirty thousand rubles for his 
establishment, and the revenues from his es- 
tates amounted to over two hundred thousand. 
He was the last official favorite. When Cath- 
arine, whose body was already in a state of 
corruption, with a terrible shriek bade adieu 
to life, Suboff was adroit enough to be the first 
to salute the new monarch. Paul said to him 
graciously : " My mother's friend, be mine also." 
For a time their relations were friendly ; but 
Paul's caprices were very changeful, and when 
one day he made the discovery that eighteen 
thousand rubles were missing from the artillery 
fund wdiich was in the hands of Suboff he 
dispossessed him of all his functions. Suboff 
quitted the country, but he returned before 
long and revenged himself on Paul. He was 
one of the arch conspirators in the murder of 
the Tzar in 1801. 

263 



SubofF was not yet twenty-five when Cath- 
arine, aged sixty, selected him as her lover- 
consort. She treated him not only as lover 
but as son, cared for his education and was so 
enamored of her work that he Became her idol, 
and — if any one may so speak in such a case — 
the best loved of her lovers. She lauded him, 
like all the rest, in her letters to Grimm : 
"Suboff is industrious, has an excellent disj^o- 
sition and a most admirable quality of mind ; 
he is a man whom you will hear of. I have it 
in my power to make of him another factotum." 

But he had the same defect as Lanskoi. She 
brought therefore to his support his brother 
Valerian, who was younger and stronger than 
Plato, and the handsome and vigorous Peter 
Ssaltykoff. With these three the aged expiring 
Catharine led a life the most ho;rible and 
shameful that ever was in the history of the 
world. She formed a secret society composed 
of her favorites, her most trusted courtiers and 
court ladies, whom she assembled twice a week 
under the name of the " little hermitage," at a 
house set apart for the purpose. All of them 
wore masks, and under the protection of masks 
everything was permissible. There were ob- 
scene dances and plays, and a i:^erfect saturnalia 
was held. 



IQi 



Meanwhile the best men of the kind shed 
their blood on the field of battle for the Empress 
and her fame, in Sweden and in Turkey; for such 
a woman Poland was conquered and wiped 
out, and while she expended millions upon her 
orgies and her favorites, the gaunt arms of 
famine clasped in tight embrace the suffering 
and enslaved Russian people. 

Fortunately the end was drawing near. The 
diseased and pest-stricken Empress could not 
much longer hold out. 

At the age of sixty-seven Catharine still pos- 
sessed the remains of beauty. She wore her 
hair always arranged with antique simplicity 
and in a tasteful style of her own. She was of 
medium height and very corpulent. It was 
said that no other woman of her size could have 
dressed with so much taste and grace. A con- 
temporary has thus described her : " Her vi- 
vacity and familiarity in private circles seemed 
to immortalize youth and gayety in her neigh- 
borhood. Those who had access to her and 
were present at her toilets were enchanted with 
her affability and condescension ; but as soon 
as she had put on her gloves to quit her cham- 
ber and appear in public in the other apart- 
ments, she at once assumed a totally different 
bearing and appearance. The amiable, sprightly 

265 



woman gave place to the grave and majestic 
Empress. A person seeing her then for the 
first time would not have found her below the 
conception he had formed of her. He would 
have said, yes, that is she ; theSemiramis of the 
North. To her as little as to Frederick II. could 
the maxim be applied : Praesentis minuit famam. 
"She walked slowly and with short steps. 
Her brow was serene, her regard tranquil and 
often cast down. She saluted witli a slight in- 
clination that was not without grace, but with 
an artificial smile that came and went with the 
bow. When she offered her hand to a stranger 
to kiss she did so with much graciousness, gen- 
erally asking a few questions as to his arrival 
in St. Petersburg and his travels. She had no 
sooner spoken than the artificial harmony was 
dispelled, and one saw only the empty mouth 
and sinking, ravaged cheeks. Her voice 
was inarticulate and hoarse, the lower part 
of her face assumed as she spoke a coarse 
and repulsive expression, and the eyes, when 
they forgot their role, were false, while a 
wrinkle on the briige of the nose completed 
the whole." * 

* At this period a portrait of lier was made by the 
painter Lampi. It was very flattering, but the wrinkle 
on the bridge of the nose was visible. When Catharine 

2G6 



In her latter days Catliarine greatly deteri- 
orated physically. The once beantiful woman 
was not only altered and ugly from excessive 
dissipation, she became a mere unappetising 
lump of flesh and clothes. She ascended the 
stairs with so much difficulty that she had to 
be assisted, almost carried, and her steps were 
so painful that the entrance to her palace was 
covered over and over with the softest carpet. 
She was perfectly shapeless, her legs were 
swollen and covered with offensive sores, and 
the odor which exhaled from her person was 
intolerable. To disguise it she expended a 
small fortune in perfumery, which she had 
poured over her from morning till night and 
from night till morning. A former corsair, 
Lambrono-Cazzioni, whom Admiral Ribas 
brought to St. Petersburg, and who played the 
part of court fool, offered her a remedy for this 
unpleasantness : washing her feet in cold sea 
water. He washed them for her as often as 
possible, for which he was well remunerated, 
but which naturally produced no effect. The 
evil grevv" worse and worse, and resulted gradu- 
ally in a state of living puti-efaction. At last, 

saw it she ^vas very angry and had the picture painted 
over. This time she came forth as a blooming woman 
such as she had been in her best days. 

26^ 



in November, 1796, after she had notwith- 
standing her threatening condition passed the 
morning gayly with her lover, she broke down 
and expired in a long death struggle to the 
great joy of Paul, whom she. hated, and wdio 
certainly cherished no deep affection for his 
mother. 

Attempt has been made to throw^ a veil over 
the immorality of Catharine by the assertion 
that a great nature like hers could not be 
stxictly held to the traditional standards of civic 
morality. 

A pretty deviation that ! 

And in what did Catharine's heaven-storm- 
ing greatness consist ? 

It cannot be denied that she is in a measure 
entitled to be styled " the Great," if that epithet 
be used to characterize an epoch ; but it 
should not be overlooked to how great an ex- 
tent lier military successes were the result of 
chance , v/hile within despotism and . destruc- 
tion prevailed as completely as in the worst 
days of former centuries. Every general, every 
governor, was a despot who extorted and op- 
pressed at his will. Honors, justice, even the 
distinctions of learning, were publicly sold to 
persons destitute of education or character, 
honor or merit. And the system of favorites ! 

263 



It is needless here to recur to this condition of 
moral anarchy. The portraits which have 
been unfolded in miniature will speak for them- 
selves and need no commentary. The sums thus 
incidentally estimated, wrung from the people 
in order that inferior men wdiose only merit con- 
sisted in their physical strength, or perhaps in 
a handsome person, might dissipate millions — 
not always in their own country — in revel and 
riot ; the wealth of the government, the wealth 
of the people, regarded as a lawful booty ; the 
refuse of the Empire lying on the steps of the 
throne, calling themselves ministers, marshals, 
generals, counts, princes, and enveloped in 
clouds of incense — truly a people who could 
suffer all this deserved nothing better. 

At the court the most unheard of prodigality 
prevailed. Each favorite sought to outdo the 
others. Not only were the women like dia- 
mond-bedecked idols, but also the men. The 
fetes were such as could have been witnessed at 
no other court. Never before were seen such 
rich table decorations in gold and silver, por- 
celain, alabaster and porphory as at a fete given 
by Count Scheremetjeff in Moscow in 1787. At 
another given by Besborodkos, who habitually 
drove through the streets of St. Petersburg in a 
gold carriage, there were pyramids of gold and 

2G9 



silver several yards high and broad. At an- 
other was played a game of chance for which 
piles of gold and diamonds were placed at the 
disposition of the guests ; not to mention the 
already described luxe of Potemkin ! Cath- 
arine herself was not behind her favorites and 
courtiers. She built for herself fairy palaces 
with entrancing gardens, and her journey to 
the Crimea swallowed up over ten million 
rubles. 

All these are shadows which destroy the 
light that surrounds Catharine's reign as a 
glow-worm is lost in the darkness of an im- 
penetrable night. AVhat are her institutions, 
her monuments, her military achievements, 
beside the wounds her system of favorites in- 
flicted on the life of the state — wounds from 
wdiich the Empire still bleeds ! Her excesses 
were only equalled by her thirst for fame, say 
rather by her inordinate vanity. Out of vanity 
she founded libraries and collections of art, — not 
out of any genuine enthusiasm for art or learn- 
ing. Only those great and celebrated men 
were encouraged and rewarded who grossly 
flattered her ; but no talent, no genius, which 
blossomed in the shade was discovered and 
protected by her. She was jealous of the fame 
of other princes, and whatever attracted notice, 

370 



she wished to have it also.* Her vanity 
made of her an authoress. Tlie questionable 
literary renown of Frederick the Second allowed 
her no peace. AncK io sono pittore! So she 
rushed into literature with a whole host of 
wretched plays, and an introduction to the 
Code of Civil laws, which she took bodily from 
Montesquieu and Beccaria.f 

*Tlie eagerness of Catliariue to undertake enterprises 
which were never consummated, gave rise to an admir- 
able witticism on the part of Joseph II. Three hundred 
cities which were said to have been founded by her, were 
in reality abandoned in the first stage of building. 
When Joseph II visited Catliarine at Taurida she invited 
him to lay the second foundation stone of Jekaterinoslaw, 
of which she had just laid the first. Joseph afterwards 
declared that he and Catharine had entirely alone and in 
one day accomplished a great work. They had laid the 
first stone of a new city — and the last. 

tOf the plays which Catharine wrote in the Russian 
language and in the composition of which her secretary 
Dershawin was— shall we say her collaborator"? — the most 
interesting was a "historical representation," Oleg. It 
was a collection of scenes from tragedies, comedies, 
spectacular exhibitions and even operas and ballets. It 
was produced on the occassion of the peace with Turkey, 
and it was no trifling affair as seven hundred (say seven 
hundred) persons Avere engaged in it. The subject 
matter is drawn from Russian history, of which it repre- 
sents a whole epoch. In the first act Oleg lays the 
foundations of Moscow ; in the second he is at Kief 
Avhere he marries his ward Igor and places him upon the 
throne. Here the old marriaa;e ceremonials of the Tzars 



ri 



Catharine made no concealment that in 
matters of love she thought more freely than, 
any one else in the world. Ten years after her 
first romantic essay she said, not apologetically 
but philosophically : "I pleased ; therefore the 
first half of the path of temptation had been 
travelled, and in such a case it is in human 
nature that the other half shall not be found 
wanting, for tempting an?d being tempted lie 
very close together, and in spite of the inculca- 
tion of the most beautiful morality in the soul 

are skilfully blended witli the national dances. After 
this Oleg sets out on an expedition against the G-reeks. 
He is seen marching by with his army, and taking shij?. 
In the third act he is at Constantinople. The Emperor Leo 
has agreed to a truce and has received him with great 
friendliness. While the tAVO princes are together at table 
a chcrus of young Greeks of both sexes recite songs in 
praise of Oleg, and dance before him some of the dances 
of ancient Greece. The Olympian Games are then per- 
formed upon a hippodrome. Next, a theatre appears out 
of the depths, on which are performed plays from Eurip- 
ides in Greek costumes. At last Oleg takes his leave of 
the Emperor and hangs his shield on a pillar as a token 
that he has been in Constantinople and as a challenge 
to his successors to follow his example. That Catharine 
did not take literature seriously is shown by the follow- 
ing circumstance. While she was writing plays and pur- 
suing literary fame, she dejirived an ambassador at the 
court of Turin of his oflice simply and solely because he 
had written a tragedy and occupied himself with letters 
—or was it college rivalry ? 



as soon as the senses are stirred and show that 
they are, one is much farther advanced than 
one knows, and I do not know how the tempta- 
tion can be j)revented from becoming apparent. 
Fhght, and flight alone, may do much, but 
there are cases, situations and circumstances, in 
which flight is impossible. How, in the midst 
of a court, can one fly, or avoid, or turn one's 
back ? And without this refuge there can be 
nothing more difficult than to forego that which 
pleases one. Anything to the contrary is mere 
prudery, wdiich was not implanted in the human 
heart, and no one carries his heart in his hand, 
so that he can by opening or closing it, stifle 
it or allow it to live." 

While Catharine was still alive a number of 
satires upon her were written, painted, and en- 
graved. Among the latter was one which was 
widely disseminated in Poland, of whose free- 
dom she was the destroyer. It is entitled : 
"Catharine's wedding feast." She is sitting at 
table. On one side are Cossacks offering her 
the bloody limbs of Swedes, Poles and Turks; 
on the other are placed a row of naked young 
men like casks in a wine cellar, while an old 
woman presses the sap from the living casks 
and hands it to the Empress to drink in a 
bumper. Underneath are some rude lines. 

273 



See : The -works on Peter the Third and Paul. Also, 
Memoires de I'lmperatrice Catharine II. London 1859. 
Memoirs of the Princess Daslikoff, London 1840 (Ger- 
man, Hamburg 1857. French, in the Russian-Polish Li- 
brary, Paris 1860). Neuverandertes Russland oder Leben 
Katharinasder Zweiten. 1771-1772. Miinnich, Memoires 
Ebauche pour donner uue idee de la sorte du gouverne- 
meut de I'Empire de Russie, 1774, Denkwurdigkeiten 
der Regierung Katharinas II. 1780. Coxe, Reise durch 
Poleu, Russland. Zurich 1785. Catharinalle, dargestellt 
in ihren Werkeu zur Beherzigung der Volker Europas. 
Berlin 1794. Kathariua II., Abriss ihres Lebens uud 
ihrer Regierung, Berlin 1797. Tannenberg, Leben Cath- 
arinas II. Leipzig, 1797. Uber das Leben und den Char- 
acter der Kaiserin von Russland. Mit Freymiithigkeit 
und Unpartheylichkeit. Altona 1797. (Von Seume). 
Katharina II., Ein historischer Versuch. Im historisch- 
genealogischen Kalender fur 1798, Berlin. Castera, His- 
toire de Catherine He. Paris 1799. Vie de Catherine 
He, Paris 1798. Levesque, Histoire de Russie. Ham- 
bourg 1800. Masson de Blamont, Memoires secretes sur 
la Russie et particulierement sur la fin du Regne de 
Catherine He. et le commencement de celui de Paul ler, 
Amsterdam et Paris 1800-1803. Georgi, Bemerkun- 
gungen avif eiue Reise im Russischen Reich, St. Peters- 
burg 1775. Pallas, Reise durch Russland 1771-1776. J. 
H. C. Meyer, Briefe ilber Russland, Gottingen 1778. 
ArnJt's Petersburger Journal, 1776-1785. Johaun Hein- 
rich Busse, Journal vori Russland, Petersburg 1794-1796. 
Magaziu fiir die neue Historie und Geographic, 1767 ff. 
Heinrich von Reimers, St. Petersburg am Ende seines 
ersten Jahrhunderts, Petersburg 1802. Storch, Gemahlde 
des russischen Reiches 1797-1803. Cathariua IL, Kaiserin 
von Russland Chemnitz, 1804. N. Karamsin. Lobrede 
auf Katharina II. , Riga 1803. La Vaux, Histoire secrete 
des amours de Catharine He. Alexandre Prince de G., 



274 



Catherine lie de Russie et ses favoris, Wurzhurij;. Abbe 
Georgel, Voyage a St. Petersburg en 1799-1800, Paris 
1818. F. W. Borck, Peter Paulowitch Semanows merk- 
wlirdige Begebenheiteu wahreud der Regierung Kath- 
arinas der Zweiten, Berlin 1834. Madame la duchesse 
d'Abrantes, Catharine lie, Paris, 1835. Lettre d'un 
Russe a un Russe, simple repouse an pamphlet de Ma- 
dame la Duchesse d'Abrantes, Paris 1835. Notizie dei 
regni di Caterina II. e Paulo I., 1839. (Prince de Ligne) 
La Cour de Russie il y a cent ans, de 1725-1783, Berlin 
1858. Prince de Ligne, Portrait de S. M. Catherine He, 
Dresde 1797. Schlozer, Katharine II. und Friedrich der 
Grosse, Berlin 1859. Jauffret, Catherine He, Paris 1860. 
Capefigue, La graude Catherine, Paris 1862. Hermann, 
Ceschichte des russischen Staates, V-VII. Ustrjaloff, 
History of Russia. Ssolowjef, History of Russia. Segur 
Memoires ou souvenirs et anecdotes, Paris 1827. Memoires 
du Prince de Ligne, Bruxelles 1860. Sabathier de Cabres, 
Catherine He, sa cour et la Russie, 1772. Lebrun, 
Memoires, Paris 1870. Schtscherbatoff, Sittenverderbniss 
in Russland. Arneth, Joseph II. und Katharina II. , 
Wien 1869. Karl Hillebrand, in the Deutschen Rund- 
schau XXV, 388. J. Grot, Uber Katharinas Jugend, in 
the Russian Magazine " Old and New Russia," 1875, I. 
122. Kutlebitzky, in the Russian Archives 1868, 8 and 9. 
SablukofE's Memoirs in Frazer's Magazine 1865, VIII and 
IX. Memoirs of Prince Nikolay Wassiljewitsch Repnin 
(Potemkin's rival) in the Russian ^Archives 1869, 3. A, 
A. Baschilof describes court life under Catharine in the 
"Sara" 1871, and in the New Year's Almanac, Moscow 
1850. Lubitnowsky's Memoirs in the Russian Archives 
1872. Dmitrijef, A Glance at my Life, Moscow 1866. 
Komarofsky, Memoirs, in the Russian Archives 1867, 2, 
4, 5, 6, 10. Komarofsky the XVIII. Century, Moscow 
1868. Siebigk, Brautfart Katharina II,, Dessau 1875. 
A. Bruckner, Katharina II. Berlin 1833, W. Vogt, 



275 



Vortrag iiber Katharina II., in the "Saramler" of the 
Aiigsburger Abendzeitung of 19th February, 1890. Cru- 
seustolpe, Der russische Hof. Helbig, Russische Giiust- 
linge. Sclosser, Geschichte des XVIII. Jahrhunderts. 
Golowin, Russische Geheimnisse. Leben Potemkins (by 
Helbig) in tlie " Minerva," 1798. Vie du prince Potem- 
kin, par Cerenville, Paris, 1808. Lewschin, Life of 
Potemkiu, Petersburg, 1811. Anecdoten zur Lebensge- 
schiclite Potemkins, Freistadt am Rheiu 1792. Letters 
from Catharine II to Potemkin in the Russian Archives 
1870, 3 and 3. Papers of Prince Potemkiu in the Russian 
Archives 1865. On the subject of Potemkin's feast see 
the letters of an unknown person in the Russian Archives 
1866, 3. Chrapowitzky' Journal in the "Tschenija" of 
the Moscow society of history and antiquity, 1863. On 
the subject of Potemkin see, further, Moskwitjiiniu 1853, 
3 ; Russian Archives 1867, 657-694 ; Baltische Monats- 
schrift 1870, XIX, 501-533, von Bruckner; Samoilof, 
Biography of Potemkin, in the Russian Archives, 1867. 
1011. Nadeshdin, Flirst Potemkin in the Russian Odessa 
Almanac for 1839, 76 ; Kolotof , Deeds of Catharine the 
Second, Petersburg 1811, vol. IV. Bantysch-Kameusky, 
Russian Generals, Moscow 1836, IV. A. Briickner, 
Potemkin, St. Petersburg 1891, (Russian). Karabanof, 
Gregor Orlof, Russkaja Starina V. 139. Barssukof, 
Gregor Orlof, Russian Archives 1873, 50-58. Biography 
of Suboff, Russkaja Starina XVI and XVII. Jacob Paul 
Lacroix, Deux lettres iuedites de Catherine He a Stan- 
islaus Poniatowsky, Paris 1873. Letters of Catharine to 
Count Tschernytscheff, Russian Archives, 1881, The 
latest is Bilbassoff, History of Catharine II ; German by 
Pezold, Berlin 1891, Bd. I und II. The continuation of 
which was forbidden this work in Russia, Avas published 
in Germany by Siegfried Crouback, Berlin 1893. 



376 



EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF PAUL 
THE ECCENTPJC. 



The Childhood of Paul. — The Experiment with the 
Countess Czartoryska. — His First Marriage to Wil- 
helmiue of Hesse-Darmstadt. — His Wife's Affair with 
Count Andreas Rasumofsky. — Paul's Second Mar- 
riage to Sophia Dorothea of Wilrttemberg. — Paul as 
Tzar. — His Erratic Behavior. — The Married Life of 
the Imperial Pair. — Character of the Empress. — The 
Mistress Nelidoff. — The favorite Kutaisow. — The 
Mistress Lopuchin. — The Murder of Paul. 



COMPARISONS have often been drawn be- 
tween Paul and his reputed father, Peter 
the FooHsh. It is certain that lie was as crack- 
brained, if not more so, than the latter. His 
childhood during the life time of Peter was not 
happy. The ''father" well knew that his suc- 
cessor was not his own son* and had. fully 
made up his mind to repudiate his faithless 

* It has been asserted, but without foundation, that 
Catharine's child was a girl, and that Pau' was a suppos- 
ititious Finnlauder. 

277 



consort and her bastard child, before Catharine 
forestalled him and ascended the throne of 
her son. As Paul advanced in years she had 
no disposition to relinquish to him the power 
she had learned to love so well and he was too 
weak to dispossess her by force. 

But for fear her son might one day demand 
his rights she sought to enfeeble his mind by 
treating him like a slave, and she succeeded 
even beyond her intention. 

In his childhood Paul gave evidence of 
the posses -ion of good traits. He was sagacious, 
open hearted, good humored, quiet, and indus- 
trious. But these good qualities were perverted 
or destroyed, not through neglect only, but 
through actual suppression. The sagacity 
changed to deceitfulness, the franknesss to taci- 
turnity, the good humor to a gloomy severity 
and a tyrannical and teasing disj^osition took 
the place of his peaceableness and industry. 
The Grand Duke was one of the most enslaved 
persons in all the enslaved Russia of Catharine 
the Second. Every lackey of a favorite of his 
mother had more freedom and more pleasure 
than he, her son, the rightful ruler of the 
Empire. He grew up thus a sacrifice to un- 
happy family relations, like the Tzarevitch 



278 



Alexis, like Peter the Foolish, and like them he 
also was destined to a violent death. 

Catharine had already contemplated giving 
a wife to the heir to the throne, but he seemed 
of so cold a temperament and so physically 
weak that she feared he was not ripe for mar- 
riage. To acquire certainty on this point she 
employed the young Countess Sophia Ossi- 
povna Czartoryska to test the question. The 
experiment proved successful. In due time the 
Countess gave birth to a son who was as much 
like Paul as a son could be like a father.* 
Having thus given so satisfactory proof of ma- 
turity Catharine no longer hesitated to marry 
him. But in choosing a wife for the successor 
to the throne it was important to select a prin- 
cess who would not be dangerous to herself. 
She fixed her eyes upon the three daughters of 
the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt and invited 
the Landgravine and her daughters to visit St. 
Petersburg. Her choice fell upon the Princess 
Wilhelmine, who appeared to her the gentlest 
and most harmless. The Princess united with 
the orthodox church, receiving the name of 

*The boy was named Simeon Welikoy and was brought 
up by the Empress. When he was grown be entered the 
Marine. The Countess married Gregor Rasu^^iofsky. 



379 



Natalia Alexejewua, and in 1773 was married 
to the Grand Duke. 

The marriage was not especially happy, and 
the gentle princess proved to be still but deep 
water. 

The Grand Duke had a friend, Andreas 
Rasumofsky, with whom he had been brought 
up, who was his constant associate and who 
possessed his entire confidence. The Empress 
observed that intimate relations subsisted be- 
tween Rasumofsky and the Grand Duchess, 
and, naturally, the discovery enraged Catharine 
as such discoveries had always enraged the 
severely virtuous Elizabeth. She warned her 
son, and Paul detected an interesting corre- 
spondence between his wife and his friend. 
But before he had time to avenge himself the 
Grand Duchess died, in her first week of child 
bed. It was whispered that her death had 
been accelerated by Catharine. To avoid an 
oj^en scandal, Rasumofsky was simply sent as 
ambassador to Venice and Naples. 

For a few days Catharine feigned deep dis- 
tress at the death of Natalia Alexejewna, then 
she began to busy herself with a new project of 
marriage. Prince Henry of Prussia brother 
of Frederick the Great who was then at St. 
Petersburg, proposed a marriage of the Grand 



Duke with his niece the Princess Sophia Dor- 
othea of Wiirttemberg. 

The Princess Sophia Dorothea was already 
betrothed to the liereditary Prince of Hesse- 
Darmstadt, but Prince Henry did not doubt 
that the great Empire of Russia would l)e of 
more worth in the eyes of the Princess than 
the little principality of Hesse-Darmstadt, and 
took upon himself to bring about a dissolution 
of the contract and the marriage of the Princess 
to the Grand Duke. 

He despatched a courier to his brother, and 
the great Frederick himself became the medi- 
ator with the young Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt, 
who, albeit very much in love, was extinguished 
in the presence of tlie great Frederick and 
very near feeling himself honored in being 
permitted to oblige him by relinc|uishing his 
betrothed to the mighty Tzarevitch. The Prin- 
cess also was very much in love with the Prince 
of Hesse-Darmstadt, but who could long hesi- 
tate between the little duodecimo throne of 
Hesse-Darmstadt and the colossus throne of 
Russia? Bridegroom and bride therefore sep- 
arated with the best understanding, and Fred- 
erick the Great could notify his brother that 
all was satisfactorily arranged. He at once 
invited the Grand Duke to Berlin to make the 

281 



personal acquaintance of the Princess, and he 
and Prince Plenry set out together for Germany. 
Before their departure Catharine wrote with 
her own hand the following letter to Prince 
Henry : 

" I take the liberty to transmit to Your Royal 
Highness the four letters to be delivered by 
you according to our agreement. One of them 
is to the King, your brother, and the others 
are to the Princes and Princesses of Wiirttem- 
berg. I venture to ask Your Royal Highness 
that as soon as my son shall have, as I hope, 
declared in favor of the Princess Sophia Doro- 
thea, you will deliver them to their addresses 
and support them with the persuasive eloquence 
with which Heaven has so richly endowed 
Your Royal Highness. The convincing and 
repeated proofs of friendship for myself which 
Your Royal Highness has given, your virtues 
which I so highly prize, and my unbounded 
confidence in Your Royal Highness, do not 
allow me to doubt of the successful progress of 
an affair which I have so much at heart. 
Could I entrust it to better hands? Your 
Royal Highness is a negotiator comrne ilfaut. 
You will pardon the expression. I believe there 
is no other example of an affair of this sort being 
managed asthis will have been. It is the work 
of the most heartfelt friendship and the most 
entire confidence. This Princess will be the 
pledge of it. I shall never see her without being 
reminded how this affair between the royal house 

282 



of Prussia and the imperial house of Russia was 
conducted and effectuated. May it serve to 
render the tie which unites us indissoluble. I 
conclude by again thanking Your Royal High- 
ness from my heart for all your trouble and 
solicitude in this affair, and by begging you to 
be assured that my gratitude, friendship and 
esteem, and the regard which I entertain for 
Your Royal Highness will end only with my 
life. Zarskoje-Selo, 11th June 1776.— Cath- 
arine." 

In Berlin the Grand Duke was received with 
the most distinguished honors. He was intro- 
duced at once into the royal palace, where the 
King stood waiting to receive him at the door 
of his chamber. Prince Henry presented the 
Tzarevitch, who addressed the King in these 
words : " Your Majesty, the causes which have 
brought me from the extreme north to these 
happy regions are, the desire which I feel to 
strengthen the existing friendship between 
Russia and Prussia perpetually, and my wish 
to see the Princess who is destined to ascend 
the imperial throne. This Princess I wish to 
receive from Your Majesty's hands, and I ven- 
ture to declare that she will thus be only the 
more dear to me and to the nation over which 
she is to reign. Lastly, I have to-day accom- 
plished an object which I have long desired. 



28£ 



I see face to face the greatest ruler in Europe, 
the object of admiration to our epoch, and the 
object of wonder to posterity." 

The King answered : 

" Prince, I do not deserve such praise. You 
see in me an old and already feeble man. But 
be assured that I feel myself very happy in 
seeing within these walls the worthy heir of a 
mighty Empire, the only son of my best friend, 
the Great Catharine." 

The stream of flattery flowed on. It is 
worthy of remark that at that very time Fred- 
erick the Grreat was permitting the circulation 
in Berlin of a satire composed l^y himself which 
wittily exposed the little weaknesses of his 
" l^est friend, the Great Catharine." 

From the King the Grand Duke went to the 
Queen, where the court were assembled. Here 
he found the Princess of Wiirttemberg. He was 
pleased with her, and the contract was con- 
cluded. The betrothal took place immediately 
after, and when the Grand Duke returned to 
St. Petersburg he was followed by the Princess 
Sophia Dorothea. Arrived in Russia she 
united with the Greek Church, receiving the 
name of Maria Feodorovna, and in the same 
year her marriage with Paul was solemnized. 

In the latter years of Catharine's life the 

284 



breach between mother and son widened to 
such an extent that the Empress made up her 
mind to dethrone Paul in favor of his eklest 
son Alexander. Her death prevented the 
execution of this project and permitted Paul 
after long years of waiting at last to ascend 
the throne of the Romanoffs — Ave dare not say 
the throne of his fathers.* 

The first acts of his reign, as with Peter III., 
were acts of grace and benignity. He loaded 
his long neglected family with favors and his 
subjects with benevolence ; he even showed 
mercy to the favorites of his hated mother, and 
permitted the old ministers to preserve their 

* See the works referred to on Catharine II. and 
Alexander I. Also: Paul. Von einem unbefangeuen 
Beobachter, Leipsig, 1801. Bulau, Geheime Gescliichten, 
1863,57-95. Dohm. Denkwiirdigkeiteu, Hannover, 1815. 
Achatz von der Asseburgs Denkwlirdigkeiten, Berlin, 
1842. Bieuemann, Aus den Tagen Kaiser Pauls, Leip 
sig, 1886. Tettenborn, Leben Pauls, Franckfurt, 1804. 
Paul der Erste, 1802. Notizie sulla morte di Paolo. 
Kobeko, The Tzarevitch Paul, St. Petersburg, 1883. The 
Emperor Paul's correspondence with Miss Nelidoff. 
Russkaja Starina, 1873, 4. Interesting and Remarkable 
Acts and Anecdotes of the Emperor Paul Petrovitch, 
Russian Archives, 1864. Memoirs of Semen Poroschin, 
St. Petersburg, 1844. Afanafsjef, Archives of Juridical 
and Practical Communications, 1860, 2. Semensky in 
the Russian Westnik, 1866, 8. Russian Archives, 1867, 2, 
and 1869, 1. 

285 



places. His magnanimity astonished every 
one. 

Soon, however, all this changed, and the 
effects of his servile education began to betray 
themselves. The sudden freedom caused him 
to lose his senses, disordered' and bewildered 
him, drove him mad. 

This showed itself first in ways that were 
harmless — in giving his whole attention to such 
Cjuestions as the shape of hats, the height of 
grenadier's caps, the color of feathers — to boots, 
cockades, and sword belts. Any one appearing 
Ijefore him with brightly polished buttons and 
who hastened to. don the new uniform wdiich 
he had prescribed was loaded with orders and 
honors, "while any persons wdio presumed to 
exhibit themselves in Ihe old uniform fared 
badly. Atrocious misdemeanors of this nature 
were punished by degradation from the rank 
of general to that of a private soldier, even 
with banishment. Foreigners, even, were not 
spared. The Prussian Ambassador, Tauenzien, 
who made his appearance at court in a uniform 
which offended Paul's taste w^as required to 
leave St. Petersburg. One day an order was 
issued forbidding the wearing of round hats, 
and any one seen with a round hat was struck 
down by the police or soldiery. Another ukase 

286 



forbade horses to be harnessed to vehicles 
after the Russian fashion, and he who dis- 
obeyed this order had his carriage stopped by 
the pohce and the traces cut. 

By an old custom all persons were required 
upon meeting the Tzar to fall upon their knees, 
even in a dirty street. Catharine abolished 
this custom, but Paul revived it with increased 
rigor. Merchants w'ere prohibited from de- 
scribing their places of business as "maga- 
zines," they must call them "lawkas," "for 
only the Emperor can have a magazine," said 
Paul, "a merchant has a shop." 

And as in the State so it was with the Em- 
peror's family. If it had given him little con- 
cern before ascending the throne, it now gave 
him still less. The Tzarina Maria Feodorovna 
was an excellent w^oman, gentle, mild and 
modest, and the goodness of her character could 
not be destroyed by the harsh treatment which 
she received at the hands of Paul. If Paul 
might be compared with Peter III., the Em- 
press was not in the least like Catharine. She 
w^as a really good wife * and an excellent 

* Mirabeau iu his private correspondence has at- 
tempted to cast suspicion upon Maria Feodorovua's 
conjugal fidelity. He speaks of an adventure of hers 
with a young nobleman in the French service and of his 

287 



mother. Her days were passed in deeds of 
benevolence and the duties appropriate to her 
sex and Iier high position. During Catharine's 
hfetime she was deprived of her children, but 
as Empress she was able in a surprisingly short 
time to obtain a great influence over the char- 
acters and opinions of both her sons and 
daughters. She was reputed to be the busiest 
woman in the Emj)ire. Besides her household 
duties and the exacting requirements of her 
position, she cultivated the fine arts which she 
really loved. Music, painting, copper-plate 
engraving, and embroidery, had in her an ac- 
complished pupil. 

That she was beautiful we know, but in her 
bearing there was more of majesty than grace, 
and she possessed also more heart than cun- 
ning. For this reason she, the noblest woman 
in Russia, was compelled to yield her place to 
an ugly mistress. Paul, looking about him 
for a mistress from whom he might derive the 
pleasure that through his own fault he did not 
find in his marriage, cast his eyes upon a wo- 
man of the name of Nelidoff", whom he brought 

proposition to the French Government in the event of 
Catharine's death to avail itself of the services of this 
man. (Mirabeau, Historic Secrete cle la Cour de Berlin, 
1789, 1, 96.) The whole story is a pure invention. 

288 



into the palace as the companion of the Em- 
press. 

Miss Nehdoff was an ugly little woman. 
Thus in his amours also Paul the Madman 
resembkd Peter the Foolish, who preferred an 
ugly mistress to a beautiful wife. But Miss 
Nelidoff was superior to Miss Worenzoff in 
intellect and manners, and Paul might at least 
converse with her upon serious subjects. She 
also endeavored to use her influence for worthy 
ends, and many good deeds are related of her. 

Besides Nelidoff and another mistress whom 
he had later, Paul had only one favorite, the 
infamous Kutaisow. 

Ivan Kutaisow was by birth a Turk. He was 
a boy in the Turkish army in 1770, was made 
prisoner at the capture of Bender and sent to 
the Grand Duke Paul as a sort of curiosity. 
Paul converted the young Mohommedan to the 
Greek faith and retained him in his service, 
having him instructed in a little French and 
giving him a superficial education. Kutaisow 
understood how to make himself useful to the 
Grand Duke and soon became his trusted confi- 
fidaut. He was the negotiator of Paul's amour 
with Miss Nelidoff. 

When Catharine died and Paul ascended the 
long wished for throne, the chamber lackey 



attained a degree of power fitted to excite sur- 
prise even in that epoch of rampant favoritism. 
Kutaisow was tlie one person who understood 
tlie art of managing Paul ; he endured all the 
Tzar's caprices and submitted with patience to 
blows and outrages. Soon Paul could not exist, 
could not reign, without Kutaisow. The Em- 
peror's lackey was in reality the ruler of Rus- 
sia, for whose favor even Besborodko and 
Pahlen, the official prime ministers, must sue.* 
Even Kutaisow was sometimes made to 
suffer from Paul's caprices, and the most absurd 
trifle had well-nigh caused the downfall of the 
favorite. On the occasion of the Tzar's coro- 
nation, Kutaisow, whose greed of titles and 
orders was insatiable, asked for the Order of 
Anna, second class. Paul, who allowed nothing 
to be prescribed to him, flew into a rage at this 
presumption outofallproiDortion to the offence, 
beat his favorite and dismissed him from his 
service. It required the united efforts of the 
Empress and Miss Nelidofif to appease his an- 
ger and prevail upon him to pardon and rein- 
state Kutaisow. Kutaisow threw himself at 



*This favorite had agaiu a mistress by the name of 
Chevalier by whom he was comijletely ruled and who 
publicly dispensed titles, offices and estates. 



290 



their feet and vowed eternal gratitude. How 
he kept his vow we shaU see hereafter. 

Strange to tell the Empress was not jealous 
of Miss Nelidoff but lived on excellent terms 
with her, and soon the two arrived at so good 
an understanding that Miss Nelidoff used all her 
efforts to 23revail upon the Tzar to accede to 
the wishes of the Empress. Kutaisow remarked 
this, and began to be uneasy. He made up his 
mind to accomplish the ruin of them both and 
to rule as Potemkin had done by means of 
another amour of which he would be the 
author. 

Upon the occasion of a visit to Moscow, Paul 
was through the efforts of Kutaisow accorded 
a magnificent reception. The Tzar observed 
with much satisfaction to his favorite: 

" The people of Moscow love me better than 
the people of St. Petersburg, for it seems to me 
that there I am more feared than loved." 

"There is nothing surprising in that," 
answered Kutaisow. 

"Why?" asked Paul. 

" I dare not express myself more plainly." 

" I command you to do so." 

" Will Your Majesty engage not to repeat 
what I say to Miss Nelidoff or the Empress?" 

" I promise." 

291 



" Tlie cause, then, is this. In Moscow they 
see you as you really are — good, magnani- 
mous and loving. But in St. Petersburg, if 
you grant a favor it is always the Empress or 
Miss Nelidoff who prompted it. For a good 
act they get all the praise, but when you are 
severe and punish, the hatred is all yours." 

" Yes, you are right, and this must not con- 
tinue. They say also that I am ruled by ray 
wife and Nelidoff?" 

" Not exactly ruled — but, yes. Your Majesty, 
I cannot longer refrain from telling you — I 
must say i', whatever it may cost me, they say 
that you allow yourself to be governed by these 
two ladies." 

"Ah ! my dears," began Paul furiously, " I 
will let you see whether I am ruled by you or 
not." 

And he rushed to a table and began to 
write. But Kutaisow, for whom the affair was 
travelling too fast, conjured him not to act 
hastily. 

The next day at a court ball which Paul at- 
tended, he saw Kutaisow's creature, the beauti- 
ful sixteen-y ears-old Lopuchin. Notwithstand- 
ing her youth she was well advanced in the 
arts of coquetry. She placed herself always 
in a position where she would attract the Tzar's 



attention, followed him wherever he went, and 
in whatever direction he turned his eyes he 
saw hers fixed upon him as if in ecstasy. He 
said to an attendant, who was also a creature 
of Kutaisow's : 

" Why does that beautiful girl yonder follow 
me wherever I go ? " 

" She has fallen in love with Your Majesty. 
Since she has seen you she has lost her senses." 

The Emperor smiled with satisfaction and 
said : 

" But she is so young — a mere child." 

" Oh, she is sixteen," was the answer. 

"H — m, really this is not so bad," said the 
Tzar, becoming more observant and moving 
closer to her. 

He spoke to her, conversed with her av>diile, 
found her artless and amusing, made up his 
mind to take compassion on the infatuated 
damsel, and calling Kutaisow commissioned 
him to arrange the affair with the girl's father. 

This was cjuickly done and Paul had his 
new mistress. 

When the Emperor returned to St. Peters- 
burg he gave an order for the removal of 
Lopuchin, the girl's father, to St. Petersburg. 

The Empress and Miss Nelidoff soon began 
to feel the effect of the change. One day Paul 

293 



abused so badly the Vice-Chancellor, Prince 
Ivurakin, a dependent of the Empress, that he 
fell ill, and upon the Empress attempting to 
interpose in Kurakin's behalf the Tzar's rage 
fell upon herself. She discerned whence arose 
the trouble, and being informed that both 
Lopuchin and his daughter were about to re- 
move to St. Petersburg she wrote a threatening 
letter to the girl designed to deter her from 
carrying out her intentions. The letter Avas 
communicated to Paul and threw him into the 
most violent rage. He fell upon the Empress 
and Nelidoff like a wild beast and abused them 
unmercifully. Miss Nelidoff recjuested to be 
permitted to retire from the court. The Em- 
peror was quite willing, but out of perverseness 
he refused. The rejected mistress fled without 
his permission and retired to her estate. 

Anna Petrovna Lopuchina understood bet- 
ter than Nelidoff had done how to turn her po- 
sition to advantage. In her father's name she 
requested from the Tzar the rank of countess, 
as was suitable, she said, for the Emperor's 
mistress. 

"You are right," said Paul, "you wish to be 
a countess? I make you a princess." 

And the next day, Peter Lopuchin was made 
a prince. Paul now imitated Peter the Third 

394 



in maltreating every one who was friendly fo 
his wife. The most insignificant occasion fur- 
nished him with the pretext. It was enough 
to have been seen sj^eaking two or three times 
with the Empress to incur his displeasure. 
Count Vielhorsky, who as her steward had 
frequent occasion to communicate with her, 
approached her at a court ball recjuesting some 
instructions. Paul remarking it, observed to 
the Grand Duke Alexander, indicating the 
Count : 

"There is no occasion for him to bring his 
wash here." 

The Grand Duke made a sign to the Count 
to withdraw. Count Vielhorsky cjuitted the 
Empress and moved toward a table where the 
game of Boston was being played. He had no 
sooner joined the players than Paul said to the 
Grand Duke : 

"See how he keeps within ear-shot, that he 
may overhear what we are saying. He is 
insolent." 

The Grand Duke again signed to the Count, 
but the sign was not remarked. Paul then 
called out : 

"Listen, Count, do you know that von Nary- 
schkin is the Emj^ress's steward? " 

The occasion of a quarrel with Count Strog- 

295 



anoff was if possible still more insignificant. 
This was brought about by the Count's taking 
the side of the Empress in a question of the 
weather. 

The Emperor being at Paulowsk, proposed 
to the Empress a walk. With a glance toward 
the window the latter said : 

'T fear it is going to rain." 

"What do you say ? " asked Paul of Count 
Stroganoff who happened to be present. 

The Count looked out and answered : 

"It is very cloudy ; we may therefore expect 
before very long to have rain." 

"Aha! " exclaimed Paul. "You agree with 
the Empress solely for the purpose of vexing me. 
I am tired of all this falseness. It seems to me, 
Count, that we do not any longer suit each 
other. You never understand me. Moreover 
you are wanted at St. Petersburg, and I advise 
you to return there at once. This time I hope 
you understand me." 

Count Stroganoff made a profound bow to 
the demented monarch and withdrew. 

Paul often placed his wife on an elevated 
point that she might serve his troops as a picket. 
There stood the poor, patient woman for hours 
in snow or rain, heat or cold, in a position 
truly worthy of an Empress ! 



So Paul like Peter the Third made himself 
hated b}^ his family and hated and despised by 
his people and the principal men of the Empire 
until at last the determination ripened among 
them to rid themselves of the tyrant. He was 
so fearful of a violent death that he caused a 
palace to be built constructed with a view to 
ensuring his safety, and of which he took pos- 
session while the walls were still wet. The 
Empress fell ill, and also the Grand Duke 
Alexander. Only Paul felt himself well in 
this fortified tower, protected by moats, draw- 
bridges and secret corridors which seemed to 
make it imj)enetrable for any stranger. 

Nevertheless this palace became the Tzar's 
tomb. In spite of all his measures of precau- 
tion the avengers of the people's wrongs found 
their way to the Emperor and strangled him, 
after he had during five years tormented the 
country and his family. 

Even his most faithful and loyal followers — 
alas ! they were few — could not deny that never 
had a change of rulers been received with a 
more lively satisfaction. 

To Paul the Eccentric succeeded Alexander 
the Good — the Blessed. 



297 



THE DESCENDANTS OF PAUL THE 
ECCENTRIC. 



The Grand Duchess Alexandra and Gustavus IV. of 
Sweden. — Constantine Paulovitch and His Worthy 
Son. — Alexander the Blessed. — Madam Kriidener. — 
Nicholas the Virtuous and His Amours. — Alexander 
II. and the Princess Dolgorucky. 



A FAVORITE scheme of Catharine II. was 
the marriage of her granddaughter, the 
Grand Duchess Alexandra to the Crown Prince 
of Sweden, afterwards Gustavus IV. Alexan- 
dra grew up in the anticipation of one day 
wearing the crown of Sweden, and all about her 
talked in a manner fitted to foster the expecta- 
tion and addressed her jestingly as the ''little 
Q.ueen." While she was quite a child the 
Empress one day showed her a portfolio con- 
taining the portraits of several young princes, 
and said to the little Grand Duchess : '' See 

298 



here, child, which of these would yoii like for 
your husband ? " 

"This one," immediately answered Alexan- 
dra, pointing to the Crown Prince of Sweden, 
whom already her childish fancy had dwelt on 
as her husband and who had been held up 
before her as an ideal person. 

Catharine was delighted, fancying that this 
answer betrayed a predisposition of the child's 
heart for her predestined husband, overlooking 
the circumstance that the pictures w^ere marked 
with the names of the originals, and that that 
was the reason why " her heart had spoken 
for the Prince." She imagined she had heard 
the voice of destiny, and pursued her project 
with increased ardor. It was, as may be sup- 
posed, political considerations rather than 
solicitude for the future of her granddaughter 
that led her to attach such importance to its 
success. The object of the proposed marriage 
was nothing less than to unite the crown of 
Sweden to that of Russia. 

After the violent death of Gustavus III. his 
brother Charles, the Duke of Sodermanland, 
had become regent in the name of the young- 
heir. Duke Charles was not in the least dis- 
posed to enter into Catharine's project, and he 
was not rendered more favorable to it after she 



299 



had sent assassins to disembarrass her of the 
reluctant regent. 

To destroy forever her hope of a Swedish 
alhance, he formally betrothed the Crown 
Prince to the Princess Louisa Charlotte of 
Mecklenburg-Schwerin, daughter of Duke Fred- 
erick Francis. The news of this betrothal was 
announced by a special messenger to the Court 
of Russia, but the indignant Catharine showed 
the Swedish envoy the door, and threatened 
severely the Duke of Mecklenburg if he did 
not at once dissolve the contract. 

It seemed as if the King of Sweden was to be 
constrained by force to wed the Grand Duchess. 

The latter meanwhile had developed into a 
beautiful and attractive girl, well worthy of 
the best of princes. The rumor therefore easily 
spread that the young King of Sweden was 
desj^erately enamoured of the Grand Duchess 
Alexandra, but was being forced by his uncle's 
tyranny to marry the Princess of Mecklenburg. 
Catharine left nothing undone to bring Gus- 
tavus himself to this opinion. Officials high 
and low and all the associates of the young- 
Prince were bribed to pour into his ears the 
most marvellous tales of the enchanting beauty 
of the Grand Duchess, and it really seemed as 
if in the youthful heart of Gustavus the 

300 



romantic tales breathed into his ear had ended 
by awakening an interest in her. 

For it is not otherwise to be explained that 
his uncle, the regent, suddenly yielded. The 
Mecklenburg betrothal was broken off, and the 
young King, accompanied by the regent, went 
on a visit to St. Petersburg in order — as Catha- 
rine said — that the young people, who were 
already in love, might become acquainted and 
if mutually pleased might find their happiness 
in each other. 

Catharine saw her game won. That the 
Grand Duchess would please the King she did 
not doubt, and she was prepared to propitiate 
the regent by paying him the most distin- 
guished attentions. 

The young King of Sweden arrived in St. 
Petersburg with his uncle August 14, 179(i, 
and alighted at the residence of the Ambassador 
Stedingk. The whole population of the capital' 
streamed through the streets to see the young 
monarch whose possession had enkindled so 
warm a contest. The Empress received the 
King at the "Plermitage" and was delighted 
with him, " almost in love with him," as she 
expressed herself to her circle. He offered to 
kiss her hand, which she refused, whereupon 
the gallant young monarch said : 

301 



" If your Majesty will not allow it as Em- 
pres, you w^ill I hope permit me to kiss the 
hand of the woman for whom I have so much 
respect and admiration." 

The meeting of the prospective bridegroom 
wdth the Grand Duchess was interesting. Both 
were greatly embarrassed, and the fact that all 
eyes were turned upon them was not fitted to 
diminish their natural confusion. 

They were mutually pleased. 

Alexandra, although but fourteen, was in the 
full bloom of beauty, a flower which appeared 
all the more brilliant in the midst of this 
northern semi-civilization. Her bearing was 
noble and elegant, her face beautiful, and every 
movement full of grace. Gayety and inno- 
cence sat smiling on her brow encircled with 
blond tresses ; candor and purity, goodness 
and gentleness beamed from her eyes. Gus- 
tavus with his sixteen years was as finished a 
chevalier as a girl could have made the ideal 
of her dreams. He was tall and slender, intel- 
ligent and mature, and in his bearing there 
was great gentleness and modesty, and withal 
kingly pride. In spite of his youth he was not 
shy. His address was free and unconstrained, 
courteous and insinuating. The splendors which 
he saw around him seemed not to dazzle him ; 

303 



only before the brightness of Alexandra's eyes 
he bowed his head. 

All was exultation ; the project of Catharine 
received universal praise. Even the regent 
could not refrain from participating in the 
general satisfaction. It was a festive time for 
all the city in which even the lowest of the 
people shared. The young King was welcomed 
with ovations wherever he showed himself, and 
the nobles vied with each other in the splen- 
dor of the entertainments which they gave in 
honor of the guest. 

Catharine was astonished at the greatness of 
her success. The King and Grand Duchess 
were enchanted with each other and could not 
separate from each other for a moment. The 
formal betrothal was fixed for the 10th of Sep- 
tember, 1796, to be soon followed by the mar- 
riage. All was ready and no hindrance now 
stood in the way. 

Yes, one — religion. 

Catharine wished, more for the sake of flat- 
tering the national pride than out of love for 
the Greek Church, that the Queen of Sweden 
should continue in the exercise of the Russian 
religion. Gustavus was not consulted, he was 
believed to be sufficiently in love to overlook 
everything. 

303 



The hour of the betrothal arrived. With all 
the pomp of circumstance the great dignitaries 
of the Empire assembled in the throne room, 
Catharine, magnificently attired, seemed to 
have grown young with joy. At half past 
seven the Grand Duchess appeared, beamingly 
expectant of meeting her betrothed. 

But he had not come, and he did not. 

And the reason why he did not was this : 

As the King was preparing for the betrothal 
the diplomate Markoff arrived and laid before 
him the marriage contract which he was to 
sign. The contract contained articles to the 
effect that the Grand Duchess should not only 
be permitted to retain her own religion, but 
that there should be erected for her in the royal 
palace a special chapel with its attendant 
priests, and to this stipulation were added sev- 
eral very dubious obligations which as a result 
of the marriage Sweden would contract toward 
Russia. 

The King was not a little' astonished. Such 
pretensions had long since ceased to be urged. 
He answered : " It is impossible. I will not, 
for the love I bear the Grand Duchess, seek to 
lay any restraint upon her conscience and sh \ 
may, if it so please her, continue to practice 
her own religion, but it does not comport with 

304 



my position to consent to the establishment 
in the paLace of a chapel for her use with ap- 
propriate ministrations. She should not, so far 
as public ceremonies are concerned, show her- 
self contrary to the religion of the country." 

The Russian minister was startled and em- 
barrassed. At a loss how to reply he hurried 
off 'to take counsel of Suboff, who then held 
sway. Suboif dared not report the matter to 
the Empress, so he hastened to the King and 
entreated him to yield for the present, and all 
would be satisfactorily arranged. The recent 
also exerted his influence, but the intractable 
young monarch only answered : 

'' No and no. I will not, I cannot ; I will 
sign nothing of the sort." As they continued 
to storm him he withdrew angrily to his cham- 
ber and locked himself in. 

The Empress, who was not easily discon- 
certed, this time was confounded. The great, 
the powerful Catharine to be thus thwarted by 
a young King of Sweden ! It was unheard of ! 
It was necessary to dismiss the court and the 
assembled guests, to dismantle the splendidly 
decorated throne room and to extinguish the 
hundred torches lighted in honor of Hymen. 

But the saddest sacrifice of tlie catastrophe 



305 



was the unfortunate Grand Duchess, who fell 
ill in consequence. 

The second day after the occurrence of this 
scandal was the birthday of the Grand Duchess 
Anna Feodorovna, bsfore her marriage the 
Princess Julie Henriette of Saxe-Coburg, 
the unhappy wife of the Grand Duke Constan- 
tine. According to court etiquette a ball had 
to be held in honor of the day, but never was 
court ball so gloomy. The King of Sweden 
was present but Catharine did not address a 
word to him, and every one was awkward and 
embarrassed. The Grand Duchess Alexandra 
was confined to her bed and did not appear. 
The King danced with some of the Princesses, 
said a few words to the Grand Duke Alexan- 
der, and departed, never again to visit the Rus- 
sian court. A few days after, he quitted the 
country leaving Catharine to her wrath and 
the innocent Alexandra to her grief. 

Gustavus and Alexandra both married, and 
both were unfortunate. The Grand Duchess 
married Joseph, hereditary Prince of Hungary, 
and died at Buda on the 4th of March, 1801, 
not having reached the age of eighteen. 

Gustavus IV. married on October 3, 1797, 
the Princess Frederica of Baden, sister-in-law 
of the Grand Duke Alexander, but his mar- 

306 



riage was unhappy. After his dethronement 
in 1809 he separated from liis family and his 
wife and lived at BaslQ under the name of 
Colonel Gustavsou in great poverty and dis- 
tress until his death, which took place in Feb- 
ruary, 1837, at St. Galle. He died alone and 
neglected. 

Paul had by 'Maria Feodorovna ten children, 
eight of whom survived him. 

The works on Catharine aud Paul. — Memoirs of Mar- 
tilcofO in the " Ssara," 1871 ; Comtesse Choiseul Gouffier, 
Memoires Historiques sur I'Empereur Alexandre I., Paris, 
1829 ; La Harpe, Von Suchomlinof , St. Petersburg, 1871; 
Pypiu, the Emperor Alexander and the Quakers ; In the 
Westnik Jewropy, 1869, 10; Pypin, Madam Krlidener, 
Westuik Jewropy, 1869, 8 and 9; Pypin, Social Move- 
ments Under Alexander I., 1871 ; Baronesse de Stael, Dix 
Annees d'Exile, 1818-1821; Schuitzler, Histoire in time 
de la Russie, Paris, 1826 ; Rabbe, Histoire d' Alexandre 
I., Paris, 1826; La Garde, Reisevon Moskau nach Wein 
liber Koustantiuopel, Heidelberg, 1825; Comtesse (choi- 
seul Gouffier, Reminiscences sur I'Empereur Alexandre 
I., Besaucon, 1862; Bogdanovitch, History of the Reign 
of Alexander the First, St. Petersburg, 1869, 4 vol. ; Gol- 
owin, Geschichte Alexanders des Ersteu, Leipsig, 1859 ; 
Joynville, Life aud Times of Alexander I., Loudon, 1875; 
Dr. Ch. Milller, St. Petersburg, Ein Beitrag zur Ges- 
chichte unsercr Zeit, Mainz, 1813; L'Hermite en Russie, 
par Dupre de St. Maure, 1829 ; Eynard Vie de Mme. de 
Krlidener, Paris, 1849 ; Capefigue, La Baronue de Krii- 
dener et I'Empereur Alexander I., Paris, 1866 ; Frau von 
Krlidener, Ein Zeitgemalde, Beru, 1868 ; Lacroix, Mme. 
de Krlidener, Paris, 1880 ; Sketc*ies from the Life of 

307 



While Catharine lived, Paul and Maria were 
scarcely permitted to have anything to do with 
their children. Even in regard to the mar- 
riage of their daughter to the King of Sweden 
they were not consulted, and the King during 
the six weeks which he spent in St. Petersburg 
did not once visit the parents of his prospective 
bride. Of the marriage of the Grand Duke 
Alexander we will speak hereafter. 

The Grand Duke Constantino married the 
Princess Julie Henriette of Saxe-Coburg, who 
thus was condemned to an unspeakably 
unhappy existence until the luckless mar- 
riage was dissolved by a separation. Con- 
stantine afterwards led the most profligate life 
imaginable until, weary of excesses, he deter- 
mined upon a second marriage. On the 24th 
pay of May, 1820, he married the Polish Count- 
ess, Johanna Antonovna Grundzynska, whom 
Alexander I. made Princess of Lowicz. On 
account of this unequal marriage Constantine 
renounced the succession — Alexander having 
no children — in favor of his brother Nicholas. 

Constantine, "the terror of Poland," died on 

Nicholas I., Graz, 1878; Golovine, La Russie sous Nic- 
holas, Paris, 1845 ; Lacroix, Mysteres de la Russie, Paris 
1845; Gagern, Nicolaus I.; Crusenstolpe, Der Russiche 
Hof , Hamburg, 1855 ; Laferte, Alexander II. Geneve 

1882. 

308 



the 27tli of June 1831 of cholera; his wife on 
tlie 29tli of November of the same year. 

The example of Constantine's morals was 
followed by his son Nicholas Constantinovitch. 
The mistress of Nicholas, the daughter of an 
American clergyman named Blackwood, vis- 
ited him in the AVinter Palace. When this 
came to the knowledge of his father, he sum- 
moned his son, and said to him: "You are 
aware that it is forbidden to receive women in 
the Palace. Why have you done so?" 

"My father is not himself so scrupulous." 

The ftither gave his impertinent son a blow, 
which was promptly returned to him. 

At the same time with this occurrence, it 
came to light that the Grand Duke Nicholas 
Constantinovitch had stolen his mother's jewels 
and valuable pictures of saints, and sold or 
presented them to his American mistress. 

What was to be done with him? 

It was decided to pronounce him insane and 
send him to Bessarabia. 

Miss Blackwood prepared her stocking be- 
times and conveyed the jewels and pictures in 
safety to Paris and London. 8he offered the 
letters of her former lover to the Russian Am- 
bassador for a half million francs, but failing 
to realize a sou for them worked up the letters 

309 



and her piquant experiences under the name 
of " Letters of an American," which were pub- 
lished in Paris. Later, having squandered 
everything she possessed, she robbed an Eng- 
lishman at Nice and ended in a house of cor- 
rection. 

When the time arrived to choose a wife for 
the Grand Duke Alexander, Paul's oldest son, 
Catharine invited to St. Petersburg the two 
Princesses of Baden-Durlach, whose aunt Wil- 
helmine had been the first wife of Paul. At 
the end of the autumn of 1792 they arrived at 
the Russian court and were received by Cath- 
arine in the palace of the late Potemkin. They 
fell at her feet and wept, kissed her dress and 
hands, for on the progress from their German 
home to the Russian capital the young inex- 
perienced creatures, who were accompanied 
only by Russian officials, had undergone much. 
Catharine consoled and encouraged them, 
made them presents of jewels and stuffs, and 
the Band of the Order of Catharine. 

The next day the princesses made the ac- 
quaintance of the Grand Duke, then fifteen 
years old, Avho found the elder of them quite 
pretty. His brother Constantine, two years 
younger than himself, who already as a boy 
gave evidence that he was not distinguished 

310 



for gallantry, or nobility of character, remarked: 

"I see nothing to admire in either. They 
ought to be sent to Mittau to Prince Biron of 
Courland. They are good enough for him." 

Catharine, on hearing Alexander's judgment, 
decided in favor of the elder princess. The 
other was sent home and married afterwards 
Gustavus of Sweden. 

Alexander and Louise were much pleased 
with each other. She accepted the Greek religion 
and received the name of Elizabeth Alexejewna. 
In May, 1793, the final betrothal was celebrated 
with great pomp. Catharine had brought 
three wars to a successful issue, and the celebra- 
tion of her triumph lent additional brilliancy 
to the festivities. Conqured Swedes and Poles, 
Khans of Tartary, Ambassadors from Turkish 
Pashas, Envoys from Moldavia and Greece, 
vied with each other in doing homage to the 
great Empress. 

On the 9th of October, 1793, the marriage 
was celebrated. The fairest hopes were built 
upon the young Prince and his consort. 
Masson de Blamont, a contemporary author of 
"Secret Memoirs of Russia," has given an en- 
thusiastic description of the young Grand Duke, 
whom he speaks of as the almost realized ideal 
which delights us in Telemachus, who, though 

311 



far from possessing a Ulysses for his father or 
a Mentor for his preceptor, had a mother who 
was possessed of all the domestic virtues of 
Penelope. The same faults also might he 
attributed to him as those with which Fenelon 
reproached his idealized pupil, but they should 
rather be characterized as deficiencies arising 
out of a lack of qualities which had either not 
been developed in him or had been smothered 
by the wretched atmosphere in '^sdiich he lived. 
He had sublime ideas, a constant disposition, a 
correct judgment, shrewd intelligence and rare 
prudence, joined to a caution and reserve which 
did not belong to his age and which would 
have been falseness had they not been accounted 
for by the constrained position in which he 
found himself between his father and grand- 
mother. He was naturally opendiearted and 
free from deceit. 

From his mother he had his height and his 
beauty, his gentleness, and disposition to do 
good. In no external traits did he bear any 
resemblance to his father, whom he had more 
reason to fear than to love as he was himself 
more feared than loved by Paul. For it was no 
secret to him that Catharine entertained a pro- 
ject of supplanting him in favor of his son. 

During Paul's short reign all eyes ^"med 

313 



with longing toward Alexander. The army 
worshipped him, statesmen admired his un- 
derstanding, the people, the unhappy people, 
shouted with joy whenever he appeared. 
When Paul came to his end Alexander suc- 
ceeded to the throne amid universal joy. It 
was the dawning of a day of peace and happi- 
ness, such happiness that already during his 
lifetime they gave him the name of "the 
Blessed." 

Reform followed reform. The secret tribunal 
was abolished, Paul's torture-chambers disap- 
peared, the emancipation of the serfs was begun. 
The censure became more lax, books and news- 
papers might circulate freely, the expenses of 
the court were diminished, taxes were reduced 
the army decreased. Peace ! Peace ! Peace ! 
was the watchword of the Blessed peace Em- 
peror ! 

But he was an Emperor in Russia. There 
monarchs, even liberal ones, have not for a long 
time been of use, and perhaps — who knows ? — 
will not much longer be in use. 

Russia wants a ruler like Nicholas rather 
than gentle, yielding natures like Alexander I. 
and II. 

And Alexander I., the Good, the Gentle, the 
Blessed, was very yielding, very weak. He 

313 



lacked boldness and self-confidence, and it was 
easy for mischievons persons to insinuate them- 
selves into his favor. At the last he fell com- 
pletely under the influence of a baleful pietism. 
And strange ! it was a Protestant woman who 
wove about him the meshes of mysticism that 
eflected his ruin. 

During his whole reign Alexander had been 
haunted by terrible recollections of the murder 
of Paul, which tempted to the belief that the 
son had participated in it. He sought refuge 
at last from these tormenting memories in the 
mysteries of religion, and all his ideals grew 
pale, all his earthly desires were swallowed up 
In them, his good intentions toward the 
country were forgotten. A religious fanatic, the 
Baroness Kriidener, who after a youth of sin 
had thrown herself into the arms of religion 
and had become a prophetess, obtained a de- 
gree of influence over her contemporaries, even 
the best and greatest, which is to-day incom- 
prehensible. The Emperor fell completely 
under her spell and became a zealous adherent 
of this " prophetess " and visionary. Every- 
thing was deferred to religion, even the most 
weighty affairs of state were determined by it. 

" At the conference with my ministers it often 
happened that they did not share my princi- 

314 



pies, that some entirely dissented therefrom. 
In such cases, without entering into any dis- 
cussion I have turned to God with earnest 
prayer, and generally He has helped me and 
has converted my ministers to those principles 
of gentleness and justice which I had upheld." 

While Alexander was thus abandoning him- 
self to pietism, the conduct of affairs of state 
was left in the hands of favorites, especially in 
those of General Araktsschajeff, a man of an 
extremely peaceful temper, it is true, but dis- 
honest, capricious and unenlightened. And 
the worst of all was that this same Araktsscha- 
jeff was not even independent, but was a mari- 
onette in the hands of numerous mistresses be- 
fore whom the most exalted in the land sought 
to efface themselves. 

All the bright promises with which the reign 
of Alexander had begun were blasted, the 
hopes of a freer existence in the Empire of the 
Tzars sank and disappeared amid the rotten- 
ness and corruption of official life, the ineradi- 
cable misery. The censure, which in the early 
part of the reign of Alexander the Blessed had 
been relaxed, was again rigidly enforced, 
books, even innocent ones from foreign coun- 
tries, were prohibited, excessive restrictions 
were placed upon the freedom of education, 

315 



and freemasonry, whicli had been tolerated, 
was suppressed throughout the Empire. And 
as with his relations with the state so with the 
Emperor's family relations. His marriage had 
seemed at first extremely happy. The young 
wife of the Grand Duke was beautiful, tall and 
distinguished in appearance, pure and refined, 
full of intellect and talent, taste and feeling. 

The Comte de la Gardie, at the date of the 
Congress of Vienna, found her still charming. 
"She has a charming face, and eyes which 
mirror the purity of her soul. She has the 
prettiest light blond hair, wdiich she usually 
wears falling over her shoulders ; her step is 
so singularly graceful that it is not easy for 
her to disguise herself by a mask. Incessu patuit 
Dea. In her a bright mind is united with a 
noble character, a love of the fine arts and an 
inexhaustible benevolence. 

Benevolence ! This was her most beautiful 
virtue. Her good deeds were done in silence, 
where and as the occasion offered. She car- 
ried consolation and joy into the huts of the 
poor and into the palaces of the rich, where 
often consolation is most needed. 

Yet she was herself the most unhapp}^ 
woman in Russia. Her domestic life was 
blighted by the want of children. Two daugh- 

31G 



ters born in the first years of her marriage liad 
died in tender infancy, and destiny had made 
her no amends. The noble Princess lacked 
the sensuality and coquetry which might, not- 
withstanding, have attached her husband to 
her, and he sought elsewhere the joys of love 
vvdiich he believed he could not find in his 
home. 

Alexander had many mistresses, but one in 
particular was able to bind him to her for 
eleven years. She was the wife of another, 
and her relations with the Tzar, therefore, were 
a double crime. Three children were born to 
them, two of whom died in infancy. The sur- 
viving child was a daughter named Sophia — 
a beautiful girl who made the secret happiness 
of the Tzar's life. But her health failed while 
still in the bloom of youth, as if in expiation of 
the sins of her parents. Alexander employed 
every means for her recovery and, hoping to 
the last, joyfully consented to her marriage 
with a worthy young man of a burgher 
family. Beautiful ornaments were ordered 
from Paris to deck the bride, but when they 
arrived the beautiful betrothed lay on her 
bier. 

Alexander Avas crushed. He felt the wrath 
of Heaven upon him. When his neglected wife 

317 



on learning the death of Sophia wrote him 
words of tenderest sympathy he felt the in- 
justice he had done her and turned, repen- 
tant, to the heart of his Elizabeth. An ardent 
affection sprung up between them, but their 
happiness was short-lived. The griefs which 
they had passed through had- undermined the 
health of both, and they died toward the end of 
1825 within a short period of each other. 

Nicholas, the brother and successor of Alex- 
ander and ten years his junior, received from 
some of his contemporaries the name of 
" the Austere." Yet his austerity consisted 
only in certain external observances. To his 
wife Alexandra, the daughter of Queen Louisa, 
he was careful to testify in public the utmost 
regard and consideration. Of the character of 
the latter differing judgments have been formed 
by contemporaries and historians. It is certain 
that she was vain and pleasure-loving, and if 
beautiful in her youth, she early became faded 
and ugly. Nevertheless, Nicholas was scrupu- 
lously affectionate and attentive, addressed her 
as "little mother" and when at Naples she 
became ill, he carried her upstairs in his arms. 

All this was a matter of external decorum. He 
forbade young girls to attend theatres when 
indecent plays were performed, tolerated no 

318 



adventures of gallantly at the court, and pun- 
ished with severity breaches of the marriage 
vow, yet he permitted himself everything, and 
in immorality was behind none of his predeces- 
sors on the throne of the Tzars. Prince 
Dolpgorucky was his "Fisher," and furnished 
him his opportunities. Furthermore, this same 
Emperor who punished so severely breaches of 
conjugal faith had a special preference for 
married women. Of the great number of his 
mistresses I T\dll mention only a few. 

One was a Madam von Stolypin, niece of 
Prince Ssergey Trubetskoy. Her husband 
died broken-hearted and his bereaved widow 
married Prince Woronzoft'. 

A Miss Nelidoff, a relative of Paul's mistress 
of that name played a considerable role in the 
life of Nicholas. Count Kleinmichel was the 
go-between and protector of this liaison. The 
meetings of the lovers took place at his house 
and the Countess Kleinmichel had to feign 
pregnancy when Miss Nelidoff became so in 
reality by the Tzar. All the children born of 
this connection passed for the children of the 
Count and Countess Kleinmichel. 

Miss Nelidoff, like her relative of the same 
name, did not lack noble qualities. When 
Nicholas died and she came into possession of 

319 



some millions whieli he had l^equeathed to her 
she at once presented the whole bequest to the 
soldiers wounded at Sebastopol. And she was 
not very rich, for Nicholas was aways a cur- 
mudgeon. 

His son and heir, the Tzar-Emancipator 
lavished all the more. Alexander II. was good 
and noble, but mediocre and weak, often a 
mere tool in the hands of his mistresses. 
His life closed in the midst of a romantic idyl, 
his relations with the Princess Dolgorucky, 
whom he called Yurevsky and whom he married 
with tlie left hand. Death came in 1881 to 
break up this happy connection. The Empress 
widow went to Italy, where she lived a quiet 
and retired life on the rental of the eighty 
millions Avhich had been left her by Alexander. 
Her oldest son George was graciously received 
by his half-brother Alexander III. and became 
a lieutenant in the fleet at Kronstadt. 



The End. 



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